IllusionTale -An Undertale AU
by Runaway Artist
Summary: The RESETs were messed with. Sans wakes up in a world he doesn't recognize, but then again, he can't remember anything. He struggles to make sense of his dreams, as well as the voice calling out to him. (An Undertale AU, includes an OC. May include triggers, please keep this in mind when reading!) -ONGOING-
1. Chapter 1

_Sans... I know you don't like to, but can you promise me something?_

 _If I'm brought back, and you remember... Please..._

 _Can you find me..?_

 _I don't want to be alone again..._

* * *

The first thing he heard when he woke up was a constant beeping noise next to him, and then bright lights when he opened his eyes. Above him, he stared at a white ceiling, and he felt his body ache all over. His mind was fuzzy.

"This... doesn't look like any place I know," he thought, not being able to remember. Looking over at the beeping he saw a machine, and noticed it kept track whenever his heart beat.

Wait... heart? Last time he remembered, he never had a heart, or any other organs for that matter..

He felt a shift next to him, and looking over he saw someone, who was slowly sitting up and stretched with a loud yawn. When they finally noticed him, their eyes widened.

"S-Sans.. You.. You're awake!" The shock was replaced with joy as they smiled widely. Around their neck was an orange scarf. The only person he knew who wore a scarf like that was his brother...

"H-heya," Sans managed to say, finding it hard to speak for some reason. His throat felt sore, as if he hadn't spoken in forever. Giving a small laugh, he continued, "So... Where am I?"

"Hospital, silly!" There was no mistaking this was his brother Papyrus. His voice sounded exactly the same, and the scarf he wore was the same as well. Although, he was human... "Don't you remember?" Papyrus asked, his voice taking a more worried tone and his volume lowered.

Sans once more let out a small laugh, this time nervous sounding. "Not.. Not really. I can't remember anything really."

Papyrus sighed, leaning on the bed once more. He took his brothers hand, which caused Sans to look over and saw that his hand had flesh over it like Papyrus, meaning he was human too. "You had an episode," he said finally, getting Sans' attention to look back up at his brothers face, although Papyrus wasn't looking at him, instead was looking at his hand. "Actually, it was the worse one you've had... You've been in a coma for over three weeks now.."

Three weeks?

Man, he was lazy and slept a lot, but in a coma for three weeks... That was outrageous it seemed. Even he would get tired of sleeping for three weeks straight.

"The doctor said this might happen, with you not remembering much. But, don't worry! I'll help you!"

His brother was just the same, which gave Sans a sense of relief. Though, he still didn't know what was going on. Why was he and Papyrus suddenly human? Where was he, and how'd he get here? His mind was in such a fuzz, and all he knew was that he didn't know anything, that this was all wrong. However, at the same time, he felt sort of... happy about this? As if a large weight was lifted off his shoulders.

 _Can you find me...?_

A familiar sounding voice came to his head. He didn't know who it was... Wait, or did he? He got a sudden rush of needing to find someone, though he had no idea why, or who, or what they looked like.

What was going on?

A knocking at the door drove Sans out from his thinking, which may have been good, except that for some reason he recognized the person who walked in.

"Dad! Look, Sans is awake!" Papyrus said happily, having looked up and over at the door as well when the knock came. A tall man had walked into the room, wearing a turtleneck and long black coat. His eyes had scars over them.

The man smiled at the news, looking over at Sans. "Well, you certainly gave us a scare. Good to see you're finally awake. How do you feel?"

Sans took a moment to speak, since his mind was still trying to wrap around what was going on. "Ah... Fine, I guess."

"I was going to bring you home, Papyrus, but since he's awake now I'll go let the doctor know," he said as he was turning back towards the door, and as he left Papyrus waved goodbye happily.

Gaster. His name is Gaster, and he couldn't remember much about him except that he was a man that had vanished. Though, judging by what Papyrus called him, he figured now this man is his father. Weird...

"H-hey, Pap," Sans said, getting his brothers attention. "What happened.. to his eyes?"

"Oh! You must not remember! Something went wrong at work he said, and he got those over his eyes, and even his hands got pretty messed up! But worry not, dad can still see! He just needs glasses now when he needs to read!"

"Yeah... Now I remember," Sans said, even though he felt like he was lying. He really didn't remember that though, or really anything for that matter. Well, except he did remember how this was all wrong. They were supposed to be in some place called the Underground. Him and Papyrus were skeletons. There were monsters. Another thing he remembered, that he always remembered... the RESETs.

This wasn't just a regular RESET he figured, this was something else entirely. Everything about it though was so fuzzy, there was barely anything that stood out in great detail. Like he could just barely make things out.

Papyrus stood up, which caught Sans off guard and out of his mind. "I'll leave you to rest, brother," he said happily. "I can't wait to tell everyone the good news!" And before Sans could say anything, Papyrus was gone. He was now all alone in the room with the steady beeping of the heart monitor. Funny thing was that this all felt so normal but so unfamiliar at the same time. Why couldn't he remember anything of this life? Was it because of what Papyrus said?

His mind raced, causing him to start to have a headache. He muttered a curse under his breath, before finally closing his eyes. Whatever was going on he could figure out once he left this place and got some rest... Even though you'd figure someone who had been in a coma for over three weeks wouldn't want to sleep.

It had taken a while, perhaps two weeks but being bed ridden all day made you lose your sense of time, but finally Sans was let out of the hospital after his vitals were checked repeatedly, and was prescribed medication to make sure whatever happened wouldn't again. During his time there, he had slowly regained some memories of his human life here, but not anything useful, such as his birthday, age, a small idea of the layout of his home, and things about Papyrus which he figured was the only useful information. None of this helped him to figure out why he was suddenly human, or why he could even remember being a skeleton living underground.

It was all weird, and all too much, so when he was finally let out of the hospital, he figured he'd take the time to figure out more about his life now. If he didn't have Papyrus by his side, he figured he would have gone mad. There was always time to figure things out later after he got a better understanding of where he was and all that.

"Well, we're home," his dad- that felt too weird to think of but oddly right?- said, as they pulled up in front of a building after having driven from the hospital, which actually seemed like a good five to ten minutes away, and Sans figured they lived so close to one because this wasn't the first time something like this has happened, especially since he had been handed a medical mask before stepping outside by Papyrus. On it was a drawn grin in black, and currently he wore it. Once more, such a familiar feeling...

Sans stepped out of the car, looking at the building with faint familiarity, and it reminded him much of the house he vaguely remembered from his mind. Even stepping inside, the interior was much alike, except for the fact there were more rooms since it wasn't just him and Papyrus living together. Papyrus happily followed Sans behind, going on and on about how the house wasn't the same without Sans in it, except that his sock was still sitting on the floor in the same place, hinting towards Sans that he still needed to pick it up.

"Ah, hey Pap," Sans said, turning to his brother and grinning a bit, even though it couldn't be seen past the mask. "I don't really remember where my bedroom is..."

"Oh! Not to worry, brother!"

"Good idea, help your brother out if he needs anything, Papyrus, I need to run to work and I'll be back later."

After a short goodbye, Gaster (what even was his name here? Should he just continue to call him dad?) left the house, and Sans heard the roar of the engine of the car slip away into the distance before it was gone.

Eagerly, Papyrus hurried up the stairs, calling behind him for Sans to follow. Slowly, he did just so, finding it was actually a little difficult to get up the stairs but somehow managed. It was probably something he had insisted on, since he knew Papyrus wouldn't have agreed to it if he could. He was lead to the end of the hall, where Papyrus had flew open a door and went inside. The room was messy, extremely messy, with books and clothing thrown here and there, and some other junk it looked like.

"This is your room! Left it just the way you did! Er... Well, except some things, I washed some of your clothing because it was starting to smell in here," Papyrus explained as Sans looked around, before sitting down on his bed. It creaked a little under his weight.

Sans couldn't help but feel alienated from everything. It was hard to remember anything, but at the same time everything seemed so familiar to him. It was weird, and if he had to be honest, a little terrifying as well. He didn't know where anyone was, or if he even knew who they are. It was just names and figures playing in his head that were so familiar and so distant.

He had gotten so lost in thought, he didn't hear Papyrus calling his name for a moment. "Ah, yeah bro?" Sans said, looking up, and he saw a worried expression across his brothers face. "Are you okay, Sans?"

"Uh... Yeah, just thinking, I guess..."

"About what?"

"Don't worry about it."

"You can tell me. I won't tell dad, or anyone, I promise."

"No, I know, I know... I just don't really know what's going on."

Papyrus sat down on the bed next to Sans, turned towards him. "That's okay, you can tell me what you do know."

It was such a relief to have Papyrus here, the only one who didn't seem so different, even if his appearance was and just be there for him. Sans sighed, trying to get everything together. "I just can't remember much. Everything seems weird and different, but I know everything, you know?"

"You were in a coma for a while, brother. They said you might have suffered some minor brain injuries."

"I know, I heard that, but... Heh, it's just weird. I had such a vivid dream, and now I can't tell what's real or not."

"Sans," Papyrus said, his voice and expression growing more worried as he gently put a hand on his brothers shoulder, "everything right now is real, I promise. This is real, not a dream. You'll start remembering things soon. I'll help you, don't worry so much."

Sans let out a light hearted laugh and nodded. "Yeah... Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Pap."

"No problem, brother! It is my job to make sure you adjust!" Papyrus said with pride, grinning widely and holding his hands to his hips as he stood up. "Dad said he'll be gone for a while, do you need anything else?"

Sans shook his head. "Nah, I'm actually exhausted. I think I'll take a nap."

"You slept for over three weeks! And that's all you did in the hospital!"

"What can I say? It's so easy, I can do it with my eyes closed."

"OH MY GOD! Fine! Go to sleep! I'll wake you up when dad gets home!" Papyrus said, clearly angered by his brothers' joke as he stormed out of the room. Sans watched him leave, and laughed a little after he left the room, and even heard him grumbling as he went downstairs. He really did feel extremely tired, and he really didn't want to think any more. At this point, he'd rather be asleep than thinking because it just drove him more and more crazy, so finally he decided to lay down and fall asleep, which too no trouble at all. At least that was another thing that hadn't changed...


	2. Chapter 2

"Pap, have you seen Frisk and Alex?"

Papyrus looked at his brother with a confused look for a moment, before realization hit. "Oh! The tiny human said they were going to bring Alex to Asgore!"

"What? Why?" Sans said, very confused, and started to feel worried.

"Well... Alex actually asked them to bring her. Though, I don't know why."

"We have to find her, Papyrus."

"But why? Alex just wanted to make a new friend! Right?"

"I... I don't know, Pap.. Just go to Waterfall, see if they're there."

"Where are you going?"

"To see if they already reached Asgore."

It was strange, out of all the other RESETs, Alex had never once mentioned about going to see Asgore, she knew exactly what would happen to her if any of the Royal Guards or Asgore found out about her. She'd be killed and her soul would be taken, and since up to this point that hadn't happened, Sans had no idea what would happen to her if her soul was taken. She was a glitch, so there was no telling. It may cause her to remain dead, even after a RESET, and her soul lost...

So, why was she going to see Asgore?

Sans teleported to the hall he had countless times judged Frisk for their LOVE, or hopefully lack thereof. He quickly made his way to the door at the end of the hall, determined to stop Frisk and Alex if they had already reached Asgore...

* * *

Sans stirred awake, hearing light rustling in the distance. Sitting up in bed, he wondered what that dream was even about, or why he woke up so worried about what had been going on. It felt so real, as if it was actually happening, and that worried him the most. It shouldn't feel real, it shouldn't put actual fear and worry into him after waking up from that dream. He had been a skeleton once more, along with Papyrus. And those names that he heard... Alex, Frisk, and Asgore... He felt like they all meant something to him, something big.

 _Please, look for me..._

He jumped at hearing a voice, looking around. It sounded like as if it had come from somewhere in his room, but there was no one in the darkness.

It took a few moments for him to relax, and he looked over at the alarm clock. It was early, before the sun normally rose. Birds would be singing soon. They always started screaming the moment the sun tried shining any light on the Earth. Birds were strange... In the middle of thinking, Sans head more noises and a muffled voice speak through the walls. As he got up, he slipped on the fuzzy slippers that had been kicked off before falling asleep, and left the room.

He followed the noises, which lead him to Papyrus' room. Lightly, he knocked, causing all activity beyond the door to freeze before the wooden door finally did open.

"Oh, Sans," Papyrus said in a hushed tone, wide eyed. "I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"

Sans shook his head. "Nah. What're you doing?"

Papyrus stepped aside and let Sans into his room. Just like his own, it was familiar looking. Race car bed, action figures, all was there, and everything was neat, tidy and clean. Sans and Papyrus were polar opposites, yet it was probably why they were so close. Sans took a seat on the bed, watching Papyrus, who was dressed and trying to get stuff into a bag, wearing a tattered, orange scarf.

"I'm getting ready for school," Papyrus explained after a moment. "Oh," Sans said, before asking, "do I have to?"

Papyrus let out a small laugh and shook his head. "No! You got your GED a long time ago! You were too smart to keep going, so dad let you take the test and you passed with flying colours!"

"Oh," Sans said in understanding, though he frowned a little. He was a bit relieved that he wouldn't have to, but then again, what was he to do all day? "What about dadster? He going someplace?"

"Work, like always. Well, actually I think he already left, but I'm not sure."

"Okay... Then what do I do all day?"

"Um..." Papyrus stopped what he was doing, and actually had to think. "Sleep? I think that's what you normally do."

"I like sleeping as much as the next guy, but I don't think I can do that without doing mad... Maybe I'll go out for a while."

"Are you sure? I mean, you kinda did just get out of the hospital.. And, you say you can't remember much of anything..."

Sans shrugged. "Don't worry, maybe it'll jog my memory."

Papyrus frowned, clearly against the idea, but no longer protested. "Well... If you're so sure, then."

"Heh, don't worry bout it, bro. Nothing I can't handle," Sans said, trying to reassure his brother and grinned, though he once more had the face mask on. Actually, he found that he felt very odd without it on, and... well, he was pretty sure he had gone and slept with it on.

After some time, Papyrus had gotten his things together, and Sans watched him leave, both waving goodbye and Papyrus promising to bring friends over after school, as there had been apparently some who were worried about Sans while he was hospitalized. Also, it turned out their dad hadn't left yet, but was up and dressed by the time Sans returned from seeing Papyrus off, just as the sun was beginning to break through the dark sky and the birds started to sing loudly and annoyingly.

"Oh, Sans. I don't think I've ever seen you up at this time," he said when he noticed Sans, grinning a little. "You missed dinner last night. Papyrus said he tried waking you up, but you just wouldn't."

"Pretty sure I'd be able to sleep through anything," Sans said, which caused the older man to laugh just a little and nodded in agreement.

"How're you feeling today?" he asked, turning his attention to his son.

He shrugged. "Pretty fine. Nothing hurts, if that's what you mean."

The man nodded after a moment, frowning, as he looked away. "Alright, well," he sighed, "give me a call if you need anything. If not, I'll be home late. Your brother should be cooking dinner again."

"Will do, dadster."

He jumped at being called that, looking at Sans with a surprised and confused expression, as if he were trying to place what he had just said somewhere. However, it was only for a moment, as he instantly composed himself once more and nodded, giving Sans a small smile. "Have a nice day, and try to get some rest," he said, as he walked out the door.

Sans stood in the quiet house for a few moments, the only noise coming from the birds that sang outside, and from the world slowly awake around him. There was no direct crippling pressure placed upon him, his shoulders felt oddly light for the first time. He didn't feel instant dread. He almost felt... peaceful? Well, almost. As soon as he began thinking about his dream and the voice that would occasionally call out to him, that pressure was once more placed upon him, and a burden was his to carry once more, and his alone it seemed.

After some time, he decided that he didn't want to stay inside the empty house alone anymore, so he went back upstairs and got changed into clothing that was a bit cleaner and smelled nicer. He got on blue sneakers, which for some reason he knew were his, and left the house, making sure to lock the door behind him and having placed a house key in his pocket.

It was a beautiful day outside. The birds were singing, flowers were blooming. Children, who didn't have to go to school, where outside playing and laughing. A few older people were walking and getting in their morning exercise. It was such a peace that Sans didn't feel familiar with, it felt unnatural and unreal to him, as if this peace was the only kind he had dreamt about and could never become reality. He was glad that Papyrus lived in a place like this, where nothing bad seemed like it could happen.

Sans walked around aimlessly, just looking around and trying to remember what he couldn't, let it be as a skeleton or as a human, he didn't care which the lack of memories was bothering him and he wanted something to remember. With his hands deep in the pockets of a blue hoodie, he heard children laughing nearby, and getting closer, until finally he looked down in time to see one run by him before taking cover behind him.

"Get back here!" Said a child running up to him to the other, who was wearing a wide grin and laughing. "Oh, children, please do not bother others!" He heard a much older voice call after, and he pulled his eyes away from the two children currently using him to play to see an older woman with a worried expression hurry over.

"I'm so sorry," the woman said to Sans quickly, before turning her attention back to the children. "Chara, Frisk! Enough!" The children stopped at hearing the woman's voice raise a little, but continued to giggle and grin as they stepped away from Sans. Now noticing, he also saw another standing behind the woman, who was looking up at him with a scared expression.

Sans shrugged. "It's okay, no harm done," he said coolly, not bothered by the children playing. The woman sighed before giving a small smile. "I'm Toriel. These are my children, Frisk," she pointed to the one that had hid behind him who was currently giving him a wide grin, "Chara," this one was the tallest of the three and currently had their hands behind their back, "and Asriel," finally she pointed to the child taking cover behind her.

"Nice family ya got," Sans said after the introductions, giving a grin that couldn't be seen. "I'm Sans."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Sans. Seems as though these two have taking a liking to you!"

Sans just laughed light heartedly, nodding a little as he did. He couldn't help but notice the only one to look like the woman was the child standing behind her, Asriel, the other two did look identical to each other, however neither looked like Toriel. Also, their names, all of them... They all sounded so familiar somehow. Had he met them before? Or at least seen them? Or did he know them from when he was a skeleton? Frisk specifically looked and sounded familiar...

Wait. His dream. He remembered a name. Frisk. This kid had the same name as the kid from his dream. It could just be a coincidence, right? However, how many children had the name 'Frisk'? It didn't sound like a very common name, at least not from what he could remember.

"Goodbye!" He heard Chara call out, and realized they were all already walking away from him. Taking out one hand, he waved a little as they faded away, though he also noticed how Frisk kept looking back at him, as if... As if they wanted to say something to him.

Or it could just be his imagination.

Well, that certainly was an encounter. Replacing his hand into the pocket, he went back to walking at a slow and steady pace, in order to keep from losing his breath or get too tired quickly. There was more he wanted to see if he could handle it. He walked, and ended up in a part of town that was busiest. Many people walked by, many cars raced on by, all trying to reach their destinations or just to enjoy the day. A few children and teenagers were out, ones that were either skipping, dropped out, or had some other reason for not being in school. He didn't really care, it was their choice to not be in school today anyways, and from what he could tell he didn't blame them.

His mind started to wander as he walked in the crowd, becoming just another anonymous face that was trying to pass by through the day, and reach their destination. Though, he had no destination at this point. At one time, he did, but now he didn't know what to do with himself. At least he could remember that, as a skeleton, he had some sort of goal in mind, something to try and reach for even if he had lost hope a long time ago. But now, as a human... What was he to do? Everything was fine it seemed. No threats, nothing to worry about, no care in the world.

But, that voice...

Please, find me...

It rang in his head over and over again, even if he wasn't paying attention to it, it was still there, always calling out to him. He had no clue who it belonged to, or why they had asked him of all people. Maybe that will be his next goal, to find the voice. Though, he had no idea where to look, or even for who if they were still around.

That was when something caught his eye. It wasn't anything spectacular, in fact it was the most normal thing ever and anyone can easily overlook it. Easily blending in with the crowd and disappearing almost.

It was someone walking, wearing a large, black hoodie with the hood over their head, making it all that much harder to see their face, but he could. They slouched, hands deep in their pockets, making no eye contact with anyone with quick steps. This caused Sans to freeze in the middle of walking and just watch with wide eyes. They walked past without a single notice or glance to him, continuing on walking down the sidewalk to their destination like everyone else. Without realizing it, Sans had begun to follow.

His pace quickened to try and catch up, desperate to get a better look at their face, at who they were. Something was calling- no, screaming so loudly at him to go and see this person, at least for a second. However, he lost them just as quickly as he had found them, getting lost in the crowd and losing sight. As the person faded, so did the screaming until all was quiet in his mind.

Whoever that was... That was who he was looking for.


	3. Chapter 3

"SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANS!"

The shorter male was basically tackled upon walking into his house, taking into the arms of another and lifted off the ground. Over the sound of laughter, he could hear Papyrus' worried voice, telling the other to remember to be careful, not only with his brother but also to not go and break anything.

After a moment, Sans was put back down on the ground, though it took a few moments for him to assert himself and catch his barrings, since his head was spinning from being spun around and what not. He wasn't too sure what had happened.

"G-Glad to see y-you're alright," came another females voice, though much quieter and with a noticeable stutter. Sans looked over at the two females with a bit confusion. One had bright red hair tied back in a pony tail with an eye patch over one eye, grinning and laughing widely. The other female was much shorter, almost his height, and was noticeably chubby. He couldn't remember their names, or much about them.

Papyrus quickly caught on to his brothers confused look, and hurried over. "Right! So I told you about how Sans might not remember anything very well! So, Sans, this is Undyne, and this is Alphys!"

"How could you forget about me?!" Undyne shouted, having a very loud voice much like his brothers, as if they couldn't understand volume control, or if they were completely unaware of its existence.

"W-With what you w-went th-through, it's not s-surprising," Alphys added in with a nervous smile.

"Well, hey, thanks for the concern," Sans said after a moment. Even if he couldn't remember them, they could remember him. In a way, he felt bad. What if he was no longer like how they remembered him? He couldn't even remember how he used to act or anything.

Sans sat on the couch as he listened to the three talk to each other, the subject never staying on one thing for longer than three minutes it seemed. They could talk about everything and anything it seemed. He made the mistake of shutting his eyes, and in the next moment, Undyne and Alphys were gone, and he could smell something being cooked, as well as low humming.

He got up, and walked to the kitchen, now hearing the occasional talking between two people.

"Oh, hello brother!" Papyrus called, as he turned around to face Sans, who stood in the entrance and rubbed his eyes. "Hey bro, what ya making?"

"Spaghetti, of course!"

 _"Heh, yeah, this time it'll be edible, I swear."_

Sans' eyes shot open, a jolt running through him to the point where it even caused him to become unbalanced and fall over backwards. The voice he just heard... It didn't belong to Papyrus, or him, or even Gaster. But, it talked as if it was there in the room with him.

"Sans! Sans, are you okay?!" Papyrus said, now knelt next to his brother with a very concerned look on his face. Sans gripped his chest, feeling his heart pounding wildly in his ears, and he took a moment to try and relax. "Y-yeah... Yeah. Don't worry."

Papyrus helped Sans to his feet, and he sat down at in a chair in the kitchen. "What happened?"

Sans sighed, not wanting to tell Papyrus about the strange voice he had been hearing, and how it actually spoke this time. "Honestly... I thought I saw an impasta."

"Sans!"

"Seriously, bro. It made my legs turn to noodles."

"Be serious, Sans!"

"I'm completely serious."

The feeling nagged him, that he needed to go back and find that person, but the sun was setting beyond the horizon and he wouldn't be allowed out, at least not alone since he barely could remember his way home in the middle of the day. So, in the end, he decided he would go out again tomorrow and see if he can find them. The rest of the night was pleasant, him and Papyrus ate spaghetti together for dinner, watching television together afterwards, until Papyrus had to go and finish any homework from the day at school, with Sans offering up any help if he needed it. Papyrus just laughed ("NYE HEH HEH!"), and said that he would be able to complete it on his own.

It was getting later and later into the night, and Papyrus had already made the choice to go to bed, as Sans remained downstairs and mindlessly flipped through the channels. Finally, after seeming like eternity, the sound of a car rolled up, the headlights beaming into the house before finally shutting off as the engine died with it. A few seconds later, the door opened after the sound of a key unlocking the door, and shut behind it.

"Oh, Sans, I didn't know you were still up," Gaster said as he walked in, noticing the television on, and Sans looking at him from around the couch.

"Yeah, well, I kinda wanted to see just how late you get home," Sans answered, giving a bit of a shrug.

Gaster frowned at this. "No, you shouldn't do that. I get home at different times each night, depending on how long it takes me to work. You shouldn't stay up so late, it's not good for your body."

"One time won't kill me."

The older man noticeably winced at this statement, but said nothing more on the matter, almost as if he was too scared to continue on with the conversation. Sans realized only after how that comment might actually affect him or Papyrus, seeing how apparently he did almost come close to death not even a day ago. He laughed a little, trying to make Gaster feel better. "Don't worry about it, dadster, I won't stay up too late."

He nodded, giving a bit of a sigh before walking out of the room and into the kitchen. After a few moments, he came back with a drink in hand and sat down on the couch next to Sans, looking at the television. "Anything good on?" he asked.

Sans shrugged. "Not really. Wanna look?" He held out the remote to Gaster, who just shook his head. Sans placed the remote back on the couch, and they watched whatever was on currently, which was some sort of weird drama show. Honestly, Sans wasn't paying much attention to it, it was more of noise to drown out the voice that was still calling to him in his head, and keep him from thinking.

"How was your day?" Gaster asked after some time, now too bored with whatever was going on in the show. Well, he seemed bored with it straight from the beginning, but now he didn't even want to pay attention to it.

"Pretty okay, just kinda, walked around for a while," Sans said. Not much happened, and he didn't feel like telling him about the person he saw while walking, or else he felt like Gaster would just drive him back to the hospital to be examined. "Though, I did meet some kids and their mom."

"Oh? Who?"

"Her name was Toriel. Her three kids were Frisk, Chara, and Asriel."

Gaster seemed pleased to know that Sans had remembered their names, guessing that was a good sign towards his overall memory loss. Finally, Gaster said, "Toriel is a teacher at the nearby elementary school."

"Yeah?"

Gaster nodded. "I don't know much about her, though, except that she is pretty nice, and was once married."

"Once married? What happened to her husband?"

"They divorced, I think, due to just usual marriage complications."

Sans nodded in understanding. The strange part of this was that he wasn't too surprised about it. In fact, it almost seemed rather... fitting. "What was his name?" Sans finally asked.

"Asgore. He's also currently in charge of where I work, and is a really nice guy. He asked about you at work today, and is glad that you're out of the hospital. He sends good wishes," Gaster said with a bit of a smile, looking over at Sans now.

It was strange that so many people remembered him, yet he could barely remember anyone. Undyne and Alphys, this Asgore guy, even Gaster and Papyrus. It was so strange, and he didn't know if he was acting any different or the same. It was starting to really bother him, and the more he realized that he didn't know anyone yet they knew him, the more he felt almost exposed in a way. Hell, he didn't even know Gaster still existed until he work up in the hospital.

His head started to pound, and he rubbed his temple with his hands. "Hey, I... I'm going to go to bed," Sans said with a heavy sigh.

"Are you all right?" Gaster asked, noticing Sans' sudden discomfort and watching him stand up from the couch. Sans laughed lightly. "Yeah, just tired. It was a long day." After a moment, Gaster nodded. "All right," he said slowly. "Good night, then."

"Night, dadster."

With a heavy heart and a pounding head, Sans slowly made his way upstairs and to bed, where he kicked off his slippers and crawled under the covers, not bothering to change into any pajamas. That's when he forced himself to empty his mind, not think at all, and fall asleep...

* * *

It was a blizzard, obscuring his sight from anywhere more than five feet away from him. The cold and snow was no bother to him, in fact he felt no temperature change. It was the perks of being a skeleton monster and having no skin to have feeling to.

This was a scene he had lived time and time again. The blizzard, trying to look for his brother through it all. His only other concern was the female following beside him, who was very unfortunate to be a human, as well have over sensitivity to the cold.

"Where is he?!" She called to him to be heard over the howling wind, and he saw just how tightly she had her arms around herself. Despite all the clothing she was wearing, she was still visibly shaking. If this were any other time, he would have never dared to bring her out into a storm like this, but drastic times called for drastic measures.

"Should be just up ahead," Sans said, pointing straight forward.

Time after time again, it was always in the same spot. It was always the blizzard that slowed them down. They never reached him on time.

Ahead, a figure took shape, one that was much familiar, and only the orange was able to be seen through the thick storm. The female smiled happily. "There he is!" She said, the happiness infecting her voice as well. Sans felt his hopes grow high just a little. Maybe this time was different. Maybe this time he could get there.

Suddenly, the head fell off.

The figure fell to his knees, and before falling all the way, he turned to dust and scattered in the wind.

She gasped. "No..."

Sans broke out into a run, forgetting about the girl, about whatever could still be ahead of him ready to strike. About the storm. About the whole world. It was only him and his brother.

"N-no... Pap," his words came out in a whisper as he reached the spot his brother last stood, all remains gone except for his orange scarf that he so dearly loved. Shaking, Sans reached out to the scarf, taking it in his hands and holding it, not allowing the wind to take that away as well. The storm started to die down now.

The female walked to him, and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. There came a sniff. She was sobbing heavily without any words. There was nothing to be said.

All was done. Nothing could be changed, for it already happened. This was the reality.

Sans let out an ear chattering cry.

"PAPYRUS!"


	4. Chapter 4

Sans woke up with a start, drenched in sweat and his heart racing widely in his chest.

"Oh my- Sans!"

Sitting up, he noticed that Papyrus was near his bedside, looking extremely worried, and perhaps on the verge of tears. He looked over at the clock on his bedside. It was well into the night, in fact it was early morning, and Papyrus still had a few more hours of sleep before he was even supposed to be up for school.

"Wh-wha," Sans let out, completely breathless. As he moved to let his feet hang of the bed, he realized just how badly he was shaking, and hid his face in his hands.

"You... You started screaming," Papyrus finally said, a hand on Sans' shoulder. "You were screaming really... really loudly. And I thought.." His voice slowly vanished away, and he didn't continue his sentence. Apparently, something like this had happened before, but didn't end so happily. Is that how he ended up in the hospital?

Slowly, Sans looked up from his hands, and looked at his brother. The dream was so real this time. He had felt the snow, talked to the girl, felt the scarf in his hands. Felt every single emotion that rushed to him, even now. With shaking hands, he reached up to his brother.

He was alive. Here and now, he was alive and safe. Nothing can hurt him, nothing can take him away.

Sans felt his throat close up, and tears started to blur his vision. "P-Pap," he managed to say, though his voice cracked and upon speaking, tears started to run down his face. Papyrus instantly embraced his brother tightly, reassuring Sans that everything was okay as Sans let out choked sobs.

It was all too real, it felt too real, and that's what scared him. Just how real the feeling was of losing Papyrus, even though he knew it wasn't the first time it had happened, and that's the next thing that scared him. The fact that he had seen his brothers death more than once and could do nothing to change it. He could never get there fast enough, he could never convince Papyrus not to do anything reckless. He was always so determined to help others, and it ended up getting him killed.

He just hoped here was different. Here he wouldn't have to fear something like that.

After a while, after Sans managed to calm down to stop shaking and sobbing, Papyrus offered that Sans sleep in his room with him. Though it was a bit childish, Sans however agreed to it, so in the morning when he woke up he was in his brothers race car bed, with the sunlight pouring from the windows and lighting up the whole room. Papyrus had already left for school, and Gaster was already at work, so once more he was alone.

Once more, he got up, put on cleaner clothes, and went outside. Once more it was a beautiful day outside. The weather here was really nice it seemed. Once more there were people outside going about their day.

Sans once more wandered around the place, remembering a few places from yesterday. It was the same, people walking, children playing, birds singing... Was it always this repetitive? He had only been awake for two days, and it seemed like as if the world was on a constant repeat, but he knew it wasn't because there were slight differences.

Well, it has only been two days, so he shouldn't go and judge right now. Maybe things will change and become more interesting, or something like that.

He walked until he found himself at a park, where people were walking or working out or hanging out. A few dogs were there as well, playing with their owners and friends. He decided this would be a good time to take a break, and he sat down on a bench that was in the shade of a tree.

The birds sang overhead, and it was peaceful and calming to the point Sans closed his eyes and felt himself dozing off. The thing that kept him from doing so and his eyes opening back up was a tugging at his sleeve. He saw a child looking up at him, and recognized the child as the one he saw yesterday, Frisk. They were looking at him with a confused look.

"Well, heya kid," Sans said, giving a hidden grin beneath the medical mask. "Where's your mom?"

Frisk didn't answer, instead, they pointed to the mask covering his mouth and tilted their head.

"Oh, this?" He pointed to the mask, and they nodded. "Well, you see... I have another nose."

The child laughed and shook their head rapidly.

"Yeah I do," he said, laughing lightly himself, "I'd hate to be nosy and let your see for yourself."

They laughed more at his pun before someone called their name, and they turned around. This time it was the other kid, Chara, who came running up. "Mom said not to wander off!" They scolded their sibling, and in response Frisk pointed happily to Sans and moved their hands in a fashion.

"Funny? Yeah, so? Mister funny man could try and steal you!" Chara exclaimed.

Frisk quickly shook their head, and moved their hands once more, which caused Chara to give him a quizzical look in suspicion.

"No... No, I'm sure you haven't met him before. I'd remember a guy like this."

Just as before, Toriel came along with Asriel hiding behind her the moment he saw Sans. As before, she apologized for her children bothering him, and they were about to walk away, when Sans decided to ask her to sit with him on the bench, telling her how he didn't mind the children coming up to him, in fact he started growing a liking to the child named Frisk.

"Oh! Why, thank you," Toriel said with a grin as she sat beside the male, and the children went back to playing happily with a ball that Asriel had been carrying. "My children are just so curious about everything, and Frisk specifically has taken an interest in you."

"Yeah?"

Toriel nodded happily. "Frisk normally is such a secluded child, only wanting to talk to their siblings, but I am glad that they have warmed up to you. You seem like such a good man."

Sans laughed nervously. He didn't know how much of a good person he was, mainly because he couldn't remember even who he is mostly, or who he used to be. Though, so far no one seem to hate him, so however he acted before must have been pretty okay.

"I heard you are a teacher," Sans said, deciding to try to make friendly conversation. "So, what're you doing here? Isn't school in session right now or something?"

"Oh, yes, I am, but I decided to take some time off. At the end of this week, I'll be back to teaching," Toriel explained. Sans nodded in understanding. "Now, may I ask you a question?" She said afterwards.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Why are you wearing that medical mask?"

Sans let out a small laugh and grinned, though Toriel wouldn't be able to see it and only his eyes would give the indication. "I get sick pretty easily. Godda wear it to stay healthy."

"Oh my," the woman gasped, looking concernedly at him now. "I am so sorry."

"Nothing can be done, so don't worry," he said as he shrugged. As he stood up, he said, "I should be getting home now."

Toriel nodded. "Alright, I hope you have a wonderful day!" She said while smiling.

"You too, and your kids."

He walked away after that, the sounds of the children's laughter fading until he could no longer hear it. What did that one kid mean when they translated Frisk? Seen him before? Maybe they were just talking about having seen him on the streets before, a guy like him was probably hard to forget. Seriously, who else walked around with a medical mask all day long? Probably not many. It didn't take him too long to get home, as he was already figuring his way around the town, and most of the time it seemed to be muscle memory at work in getting him home.

It was drawing close to the time Papyrus was meant to be home, so Sans sat down on the couch with a flop and turned on the television. Some weird game show was on, with a very flamboyant game show host with an even stranger name. Mettaton. Huh, what kind of person would be called Mettaton? Then again, it probably wasn't the weirdest name someone could have, his brother was named Papyrus after all... Wait, was that his actual name here? Or was that just a nickname? Was his name actually Sans? Or was that just some kind of nickname given to him by someone? If anyone, it would probably be Papyrus, he was always good at coming up with names.

Before he knew it, he was zoned out once more, and had fallen asleep on the couch, with the sound of the television filling in the silence of the empty home...

* * *

"Careful! It'll start to-OH MY GOSH!"

"IS THAT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN?!"

He could hear frantic screaming and scuffling coming from the next room, and after a moment, realized there was the smell of smoke as well. When he opened his eyes, he realized he had fallen asleep on the couch, the television playing a game show hosted by Mettaton, who honestly was the only television entertainer of the Underground anyways, so everything was hosted by the robot.

More shouts, until finally he heard sizzling, and the smell of smoke slowly went away.

He got up from the couch to go investigate, walking into the kitchen. There was his brother, and two humans, one much shorter than the other, and honestly looked to be much younger.

"OH! Hello, brother!" Papyrus said, having looked over at the doorway and gave his brother a huge grin, as always.

"Oh, you're awake! Sorry, did we wake you up?" Said the older human, turning around from the sink and laughing nervously. "We, uh... had some difficulties with the sauce."

"It caught fire!"

"Yeeeah..."

The younger human was laughing to themselves, looking back and forth between everyone. He just sighed, and laughed a little. "I thought you said you could make edible food, Alex, not flammable."

"Hey!" The human's arms crossed, as if offended but wore a grin. "I don't see you doing any better! If it's so easy, why don't you come cook?"

Papyrus let out a gasp, and began to look overly excited. "Ooooh, yes Sans! Please! You haven't tried cooking in such a long time!"

"Geez, I dunno," he said, shrugging with his hands in his pockets. "I mean, it might end up worse than that mess you got going on there."

"I can make better spaghetti than you and your brother," the taller human challenged.

"Let's have a race then! Whoever can make the best spaghetti wins! Obviously it shall be my brother and I, for the Great Papyrus makes the best spaghetti!"

"Alright, then I'll take Frisk, and we'll beat you both!"

"Ready?"

"Set!"

"Go!"

* * *

"Brother?"

Sans woke up with the television on, this time showing the news. Outside, the sun was starting to set beyond the horizon, giving the world around a golden glow, which also included Papyrus as he hovered over Sans, with a bit of a relieved look on his face.

"Did you sleep well? You seemed like you were having a good dream!"

"Ah... Yeah," Sans muttered, as he sat up and rubbed his head, as well as fixing the medical mask over his face. How many times was he going to fall asleep and dream of someplace so real? How many times was he going to fall asleep and dream himself and Papyrus as skeletons? How many times were these dreams going to be real? He felt like everything was actually going on! He could smell the smoke still that came from the burning pasta sauce in the pot! How many more times was he going to dream of this human, Alex, and have that kid Frisk included in it? What did it mean? Was he actually a skeleton or a human?

More importantly... Why him? Why did he have to have all of this, but no one else?

He got up, more of threw himself off the couch, and headed for the door. "Ah, Sans?" Papyrus called after him worriedly. "Where are you going? I'm making dinner!"

"Out," Sans said over his shoulder, his voice a bit more harsh than he intended it to be. "I'll be home later." With that, he closed the front door behind him, for once leaving Papyrus all alone in that empty and silent home instead of him.

He didn't know where he was going, he had no idea, and the only place he could go was the park, but he didn't want to go there. He didn't want to run into anyone, or by any chance Toriel and her children, so instead he just walked, letting his legs take him where ever they wanted. Maybe this was muscle memory too, because he ended up in front of a place called Grillby's.

The name was so familiar, yet he couldn't figure out where he had heard it from. Was this someplace he went to frequently before losing his memories? Or was this some kind of parallel to the strange dreams he'd been having lately of life as a skeleton?

Whatever the answer was, he didn't care right now, as he opened the door and was blasted with heat and the smell of barbecue. Maybe grease as well, if grease even had a smell... Did it?

The overall feeling was welcoming, as if he had been here time and time again. As he walked in, behind the counter someone waved slightly, before turning back to a customer. Sans walked over and took a seat on a stool at the far side. He let out a huge sigh, before laying his head down in his arms, completely covering his head with the huge blue sleeve, blocking his vision and causing some noise to become muffled.

He then felt a presence beside him, and when he looked up, the same person from earlier was standing from behind the counter, and a pile of fries was now next to him. Slowly, Sans sat up, and laughed awkwardly. "Ah... To be honest.. I can't remember if I've been here before..."

He nodded, before holding out his hand. "Everyone calls me Grillby," he said, his voice low and almost in a whisper. After a moment, Sans took his hand and shook it. Must be because of the name of the place. It wasn't a bad name, actually, but it did cause him to wonder what this mans name really was, but then again, he couldn't remember if he had a name either other than Sans. He then pointed to the pile of fries. "Free. Welcome back," and with that, Grillby left to go tend to other customers.

Looking over at the pile of fries, and the large bottle of ketchup next to it, for once since waking up he actually felt like as if he belonged.


	5. Chapter 5

Weeks passed by, and still Sans felt like he couldn't completely understand what was going on around him, who he was or sometimes even what he was, or who he might have been before forgetting everything. Not many memories resurfaced, if anything at all that could be of any use. The dreams kept occurring every time he fell asleep, and sometimes he wondered if they were actually just dreams. They always felt so real, and he always knew what was going on, even before opening his eyes in the dream.

The emotions he felt were so real. Sometimes the dreams were happy, and sometimes they weren't. Sometimes, very bad things happened, either to him or to others, and when that happened all he could do was just watch. He didn't know why, but he knew interfering wouldn't do anything. It was strange, how the kid in his dreams, Frisk, always seemed different. Sometimes everyone survived, sometimes only some, and sometimes none at all, until it was only him, Frisk, and the other human, Alex.

That brought another question, who was Alex? So far, everyone that he dreamed off all appeared in some way when he woke up as a human. Even Grillby, who he also saw in the dreams, was running a restaurant similar to the ones in his dreams, even the menu items seemed to be exactly the same. Toriel turned out to be some ex-Queen, Asgore had been a King, both who of which were goats along with their son Asriel, though he only learned that through Frisk in his dreams telling him one day. If they hadn't, he probably would've never found out. And he didn't have to worry about that flower Flowey that appeared occasionally in his dreams too, so that seemed to be something good.

Everyone he had met somehow appeared in his dreams either before or after meeting them, yet so far the only one he hadn't run into yet was Alex. Was this the person he for some reason was looking for?

Maybe he just thought too much...

Looking outside the window from his bedroom, he watched the sky roll by lazily in a shade of grey. As the weeks passed, the weather was changing. It was starting to become more wet and rained frequently, as well as getting colder. In his dreams, the weather was never controlled by the sky. One place was always snowing, another was always burning hot. Then again, underground, the sky didn't do much to control the weather.

Downstairs, he heard laughter. Looking at his clock, he saw it was about noon. The laughter didn't belong to Papyrus, but instead Undyne, who came over rather frequently actually, and sometimes Alphys would also tag along and hang out at their house all day. Most of the time, Gaster was at work, so they didn't have to worry about bothering him. Man, it seemed like he never slept or something, with how he got home at impossible hours, and then left again the next morning around the same time as Papyrus, which also was at impossible hours.

Without caring too much, he slipped on some clothes, his slippers, and went downstairs towards the laughter. Just from the stairway, he could see that Undyne was in front of the television, watching some kind of comedy. Man, tha Mettaton person appeared in just about everything... How did he have the time to make so many appearances in so many television shows?

"Oh, good morning, Sans!" He heard Papyrus call over happily from where he was walking out of the kitchen, smiling widely.

"Morning?!" Undyne called, turning around from the couch to look at Papyrus and then at Sans. "It's, like, noon!"

"Th-then you should s-say "good evening" i-instead," came Alphy's shy voice, also from the couch where she sat beside Undyne.

"Good evening!" Undyne hollered. Really, perhaps Undyne and Papyrus should get a volume check, they were the loudest of them all, though it was clear Undyne couldn't reach a level lower than shouting. At least Papyrus knew when to be quiet, and was loud when he knew he could be.

Sans walked over and took a seat on the couch next to Undyne as she burst out laughing from something else going on, but he wasn't paying too much attention to notice. However, what he did notice was Alphys looking rather nervous, well, more than usual, as she was playing with the sleeves of her shirt and looking quite bothered by something.

"Something on your mind, Alph?" Sans asked, which got everyone else's attention and they all turned to her, which may have been a bad call cause now she blushed and looked even more uncomfortable. "W-well," she stammered, and a nervous grin appeared on her face, "You see... I.. I never t-told you guys this... but... M-Mettaton... Well... I k-know him..."

"WHAT?!"

The shocked shouts came from both Undyne and Papyrus, who were now looking at Alphys with wide eyes and jaws hanging open, as they begged her to continue on, and she swallowed nervously. "Y-yeah... It's.. kinda a l-long story... but, uh... Also... He... H-he's coming soon? Here? In like, a week?"

Again, another scream of what, and this time Undyne was standing on the couch and jumping. "ALPHYS WHY HAVE YOU NEVER TOLD US TILL NOW?!" She shouted. Papyrus was just muttering a bunch of random words to himself, clearly looking as surprised, and perhaps as if he might faint from shock. Sans patted his brothers shoulder and laughed lightly.

"S-sorry," Alphys quickly apologized. "It-it's just... I didn't... k-know how to bring it up? It never s-seemed relevant.."

"Well, can't wait to meet your friend, Alph," Sans said, seeing as how he was the only one capable of coherent speech at the moment.

"H-he's also b-bringing his cousin... Th-they're quite close..."

Just as Alphys said, within a week, the famous television star came to their town, surprisingly without any paparazzi following close behind, or anywhere in sight to be honest. And, much to Sans not surprise, he was just as charismatic in person as he was on television, however his cousin wasn't so much.

They all decided to meet up at the park, and the weather was in their favor this day as the sun was shining down on them, warming the Earth from it's passed few days of merciless weather and the sky was as clear and blue as could be. Mettaton was not one to be missed on any given day...

"Hellooooooo darlings!" Came a shout, as a male approached, another following along meekly behind him. Mettaton smiled widely, waving at them as he pulled his cousin along behind him.

"H-hi, Mettaton," Alphys said weakly, smiling nervously. "Um... Th-these are my f-friends... Uh, S-Sans, Papyrus, and U-Undyne," she said, introducing each person as she named them off and pointed to them. "My, Alphie, you have such cute friends!" He said happily, before introducing himself. "You all can just call me Mettaton, and this is my cousin, who prefers to be called Napsta," he said, moving a bit so his cousin could now be seen better. Napsta waved a little, and gave a small hello that was barely heard. "They're quite shy, so I hope you all will be nice to them," Mettaton added in, grinning widely at his cousin with encouragement.

Everyone gave a hello to Napsta, which seemed to lighten up their spirits just a little as they managed a small smile.

"So, what did you guys want to do? I don't really know my way around the town!" Mettaton said.

"We can show you around!" Papyrus offered up. "Since you'll be staying a while, it's best to know your way!"

Everyone agreed to this idea, and Papyrus and Undyne took lead in showing the television star and his cousin around the small town, which really didn't have all too much too offer, but it seemed to make Mettaton and Napsta happy, since they were probably tired of all the crowded towns they were normally used to during show business. Then again, Napsta never seemed to be on any television shows unlike Mettaton, so Sans began wondering what it was that they did. Everyone seemed to be around the same age, quite possibly with Sans being the oldest, so they couldn't be that far ahead in education. Did Mettaton even go to school, or did he drop out, like Sans did? It did seem quite hard to juggle being a famous star and going to school.

Sans actually felt a little relieved it wasn't just him wandering around town alone this time , it sort of felt good to have a huge group of friends, talking, laughing. Sometimes, he would get frustrated of being alone all the time, especially while Papyrus was out during school, and Gaster at work. He had nothing to do during the day but be alone with his thoughts, and sometimes that really scared him because he had a habit of thinking too much.

When they were done showing the cousins around, they ended back at the park as the sun was making a clear path towards the horizon, Undyne suddenly got the idea to challenge everyone to a game, with which Papyrus and Mettaton accepted, and Alphys was dragged into it by Undyne hooking her arm around the other and making a clear no wouldn't be an option, so Sans and Napsta ended up sitting down in the grass and watching the others play- well, Sans didn't really know what Undyne's challenge and even been about, so it wasn't clear what they were doing.

"So, your cousin performs," Sans said to Napsta, trying to make friendly conversation with the skittish cousin, "what do you do?"

"Oh..." they said, looking down at the grass as if it was the most interesting thing in the world, "I... mix music.."

Sans grinned, happy that he was actually able to get an answer out of them. "That's pretty cool."

"Metta... Likes to play them during shows... Sometimes, he makes lyrics... and sings them..."

Honestly, that actually did sound really cool of Mettaton to do. He also had no doubt in his mind that Napsta was a good artist. "I'll pay more attention next time I watch television."

"Oh... you don't have to..." they said, picking at the grass, but then they gave a very shy smile, and said, "thank you..."

Sans just shrugged, and turned his attention back to the others, who were shouting loudly, well all accept Alphys, who seemed very confused as to what was going on. Sans then felt something wrap around his shoulders, and looking back he saw Frisk grinning. "Heya, kiddo," he said, which caused them to giggle happily and sat down on the grass next to him and Napsta, who looked at them worriedly.

"Oh yeah, this is Frisk, pretty sure they're mute, too," he said, introducing Napsta to the child, who waved happily at the shy cousin, but they managed a small wave back. "Where's your mom and siblings?" Sans asked, turning back to Frisk. They pointed behind them, where Toriel and the other two children were walking up to the group.

"Frisk just always seems to be able to pick you out from the crowd," Toriel said as she neared. "Are these all your friends, Sans?"

He nodded. "Yeah, we were showing some newcomers around town, and then this happened."

Toriel laughed, before turning to Napsta with a warm smile. "Hello there, I'm Toriel. I hope Frisk already introduced themselves to you." Napsta nodded. "Well, these are my other children, Chara and Asriel."

For some reason, Sans couldn't help but notice the disapproving look they were giving him, with their arms crossed and face twisted in a frown. However, after some internal debating, they decided to sit down next to Frisk, who looked very happy at the decision.

"I... I'm Napsta," finally said the cousin to the newcomers, which was a little hard to hear over the shouting of the group, but somehow they all managed to hear. "It's wonderful to meet you," Toriel said. Asriel, from once more standing behind Toriel, gave Napsta a small wave, which they gave in return.

Honestly, everyone seemed to be having a good time. Eventually Asriel came out from behind his mother when Frisk and Chara went to go join the game and followed after them. Guess the three were inseparable, and whatever one did, the others followed. It was kinda cute. Toriel sat down and began talking with Napsta as she kept a watchful eye on her children playing with the older kids, though they all seemed to be able to cut it down a lot and make the game much safer for the children to play along as well, as children seemed easily drawn to them all and they always took precautions whenever children were involved in something. Undyne seemed famous with children out of all of them.

Sans felt once more a sense of peace fill in him, as he closed his eyes and listened to the laughter and chatter going on between everyone he knew. He then wondered if everyone else felt the strange connection he did, as if they all had known each other once before at some time, as if this was the most normal thing to happen. Well, of course normal, but more so than usual. Everyone was enjoying themselves as the sun was drifting lower into the horizon, until finally Toriel said that her and her children needed to head home before it got too dark out. There was some complaining from them, even from Asriel, but they obeyed they mother, and everyone else also agreed that it was time to head home.

As Sans stood up, Frisk hurried over to him while their mother was distracted, with Chara following behind although looking as if it was against their will. Frisk held out a piece of paper to Sans, who took it with a questioning look. "Just read it later, funny man," Chara said, before grabbing a hold of Frisk's hand and dragging them behind back to Toriel. Frisk waved goodbye happily to Sans, who was left frozen with the paper in his hands.

Strange... Eventually, he snapped out of it, and shoved the paper in his pocket before the others noticed.

Alphys explained how Mettaton and Napsta were staying at her place before the three parted ways. Undyne stayed until they got to the brothers house before waving goodbye and headed on home herself. Gaster still wasn't home, and Papyrus was talking about what he should make for dinner. Of course, the mention of spaghetti came up more than Sans was comfortable with, since that seemed to be the main dish Papyrus enjoyed making, but since Sans nor Gaster could cook he wasn't in the position to say no.

Sans excused himself upstairs as Papyrus began cooking, and he snuck away into his room. Taking out the paper, he unfolded it. It was written in crayon, a bright cheery red, as well as some side noted in a much darker red. He sat down on bed as he began reading.

 _Dear Sans,_

 _We kinda just met, and I know this is weird, but this is important!_

 _I remember. And Chara._

 _Not everything, but I remember the Underground. You, and Papyrus, and everyone else. And the RESETS._

 _I don't know why we're here. I didn't do it, I promise!_

 _But I remember. We remember._

 _-Frisk_

 _& Chara_


	6. Chapter 6

They remember...

Both Chara and Frisk.

Someone else remembers...

He heard muffled noises before he opened his eyes, and saw a frantic Papyrus hovering over him, and an equally frantic Gaster in the distance.

"D-dad! Sans!" He heard Papyrus shout, and there came a breath of relief behind him, coming from Gaster.

He couldn't remember what happened after reading the note, and he felt odd in a very odd way that he couldn't place. Slowly, he sat up with the help of his brother, who seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"Sans, are you alright? What happened?" Gaster said, rushing over and putting a hand on his shoulder. Sans groaned, putting a hand up to his head. "I... don't know... can't remember..."

"I... Sans, I heard a loud noise, and... when I got here, you.." Papyrus began, seated beside Sans with an arm wrapped around his brother tightly, almost as if to keep from losing himself and Sans. "You were blackout on your floor... I-I didn't know what to do... So-So I called dad... We.. We thought..."

They thought he had gone into another coma... He didn't need either of them to continue for him to know exactly what he was talking about, and judging by the phone in Gaster's hand, he was just about to call an ambulance.

After a moment, Sans let out a sigh, and then did his best to smile, although it was hidden, he still wanted them to know he was all right in all the ways he could possibly be. "I'm fine. I'm sorry, I guess I just got tired from all the activity from today," he said, letting out a small laugh. It, of course, wasn't the full story, but it also wasn't a lie, and they seemed to take it pretty well as the answer.

"Next time don't overwork yourself so much," Gaster said with a relieved sigh and dropped his hand from Sans' shoulder. "You should probably get some rest then, since you did have a pretty eventful day."

Sans nodded, and Gaster left the room. Now it was just him and Papyrus, who was still holding onto Sans tightly, as if he left go he may lose him. "Sans... are you really okay?" He asked, clearly unsure about leaving his brother alone after what just happened, but Sans gave him a reassuring nod and a smile. "Don't worry, Pap. I would let you know if I wasn't."

Slowly, Papyrus gave a nod, before standing up reluctantly and finally letting go of his brother. Sans wanted to ask him if he remembered, if anything seemed off at all, if he remembered anything about the Underground, but there was enough scare for one day so he remained quite about the matter, and finally Papyrus left his room. There was no noise beyond his door as the house went quiet, as well as the world around him.

As he did suddenly feel tired, Sans lied down in bed and threw the covers around himself tightly. So, Frisk and Chara remembered, huh? Remembered... That meant his dreams weren't actually dreams. They must be memories from that Underground place. At one point, he and Papyrus were skeletons. Undyne was a fish. Alphys was a reptile. Everything else was true, but then that also meant that countless times Papyrus and everyone else was killed, even him... How many times did he die? How many times did Papyrus die? How many times did they have happy ends ripped away from them?

He felt tired, but he tossed and turned in bed restlessly, unable to fall asleep. His mind raced too much. Then that also meant Alex was real, or once was. Where was she? What happened to her? And those RESETs Frisk mentioned... Is that why he and everyone else was able to die and live so many times? And they said that they didn't do it... Was someone else able to do those RESETs? He couldn't remember, only Frisk seemed to be able to control and use them it seemed, so what had happened that cause them to RESET and end up here? He wasn't one to complain, this seemed better than being killed again and again, having a happy end again and again only to be thrown back into the Underground with each RESET... He just wanted answers, then maybe he could actually get a peaceful nights sleep for once...

Speaking of sleep, he looked over at the clock, and realized a few hours have actually passed by now, yet he was still awake, tossing and turning in bed without a wink of sleep. All he had was his thoughts, and once more he was tired of thinking. He got one answer, but that just opened up more questions that need to be answered.

He got up from bed and reached to find the paper, but although he looked everywhere in his room it was no where to be found... Strange. Eventually he left his room. Papyrus should be asleep by now, so he decided to leave him alone and head downstairs. Just as he hoped, Gaster was still awake, sitting in the kitchen at the table with his face in his hands, and hadn't heard Sans walk up to him until he spoke up.

"Can't sleep, dadster?" he said with a light chuckle, and Gaster looked up with a heavy sigh.

"Sans... I thought you were asleep..."

He was about to answer, when he noticed the note in front of him on the table, and Sans looked back up at Gaster with a look. "Uh... a kid at the park-"

"Frisk gave it to you."

"Uh... Heh, yeah." He jumped a little when Gaster said the name, but then realized that the kid had signed it at the bottom. With another heavy sigh, Gaster shook his head.

"I... should have expected this."

"...Expected what?"

Gaster then looked back at Sans, taking a moment to answer. "You remember the Underground, don't you? Being a skeleton, you and your brother, right?"

This time, Sans really was thrown off by surprise, and quite possibly may have stumbled backwards. The kid didn't mention the part of being a skeleton in their note, so it was clear Gaster knew something. Finally, Sans nodded. "Y-Yeah... Well, sort of.."

The other male nodded. "It seems as though you and the children remember more than any of us..."

"How do you know?"

"Because I, too, remember a little, but not as much. You and these children have the clearest memory, quite possibly due to their ability to RESET, and you being able to bend space and time. You always did remember every RESET so clearly as well..."

"So... why're we here?" Sans asked, taking a seat in a chair across from Gaster, who just sighed.

"I... wish I could tell you that... I'm not sure. There was a disruptance, an anomaly, that took control of the RESETs and threw us all into this place. Take it as a blessing or a curse however you may."

"Is that why you got so weird at me calling you dadster?"

"Hmmm... It was a little surprising when you started calling me that, but then again, we all seem to have some sort of written memories for us already."

"What do you mean?"

"You can't remember much from before waking up, right?"

Sans nodded.

"That's not too surprising. There was nothing before then."

"What do you mean..?"

"Just as it sounds. This timeline began with you waking up. Everything else before that was already written out for us it seems, however no one seems to notice. Memory can be used that way to make the person think it's reality, when really those never really happened. However, in a way, they did... It's actually quite confusing. I've been trying to study this anomaly at work, but whatever it was left almost no tracks. There's not much for me to study and figure out."

Sans sat there, completely speechless. So everything he had been dreaming had actually happened. That was his life before now, and really this life never started until he woke up in the hospital. "Does... Does Papyrus know?"

"If he does, he hasn't said anything to me."

If anything, Sans wished that Papyrus didn't remember at all. He didn't want his brother going through the inner turmoil that he was, and quite possibly what Gaster was going through as well. Well, the one thing that was certain was that no one seemed to know why this happened or how. As Gaster explained it, it was caused by a strange and unknown anomaly.

"However," Gaster continued after a moment of silence between them, "I don't think this anomaly meant any harm. It seemed to have wanted a better RESET for us, and created these lives for all monsters that were once living in the Underground, as well as completely wiping out anything that was ever said of the Underground. In other words, it never existed. Monsters and the Underground have been completely erased, and we've been given these human lives to live. It kept you and Papyrus together, and found a way to keep all our lives and passions from before hand into these lives..."

There was so much information that Sans didn't know how to react. So, it wasn't Frisk, so now left the question of what, and why. Sans rubbed his head, which started to throb, and Gaster looked up in concern. "What is real now is your health. You should go to bed now. I'm sorry for throwing so much information at you when you aren't feeling well."

"No.. It's okay. Maybe this will help me to sleep a bit better," Sans said in all honesty, shaking his head. Hopefully he will be able to sleep a bit better, knowing there now was at least three others who knew of their lives as monsters in the Underground, and a few other things that had kept him awake and tossing at night.

"Goodnight, Sans."

"Night, dadster."

As he dragged himself upstairs and into bed, he felt a little bit of the weight on his shoulders lessen just a little, and he could have sworn he heard the laughter of his friends and family as he drifted off into sleep.

* * *

"So, you ever gonna tell me why you fell in the first place?"

He opened his eyes to a place that had faint blue lighting from the water, flowers and mushrooms that grew around him. The atmosphere was full of moisture and the sound of rushing water was faint in the background. On the ceiling were glowing crystals that resembled much of the night sky and twinkling stars. This was what he first saw, before looking over from where he lied on the ground, and saw the girl, Alex.

She looked away when the question left and echoed in the cave around him.

"No... I... I think you all are better off not knowing."

"Come on, kid. You're trapped in here now, might as well confess your motives," he said as he looked back up at the ceilings stars, and after a moment heard a long sigh escape her.

"Promise.. you won't think different of me? Or laugh?"

"You know I hate making promises, kid."

"Please?"

"... Okay. I promise."

She stretched her arm into the air above her, and used her index finger to connect the fake stars above her in fake constellations. "The world, up there, on the Surface," she began, her words slow. "It... I didn't like it. Maybe because I'm too weak? Couldn't handle it? I don't know... It hurt living there."

As she went on, slowly she lowered her arm and put it on her stomach, folding it with the other hand and sighed. "I heard of this place, how if you came to this mountain, you never returned... I... Didn't really know what they meant by that, but I didn't care. One day, it became too much, and..." Her voice cracked. "Sometimes I wonder... Maybe I shouldn't have survived that fall... I don't know how I did, but I did..."

Sans listened, quietly and patiently listening to her story. He had been the one to bring it up, so the least he could do was try to listen quietly, giving her all the attention and patience he could. He didn't mind if she paused frequently, or if sometimes her voice cracked or if her sentences became quick or slow. He suspected a little, but now he was listening.

"To someone who lives down here, the Surface seems like a great, magical place, hah... But, to me... Honestly, I don't care if I never make it back up... I met you, Toriel, Papyrus... Sometimes I think it's good that I survived the fall, cause I got to meet you all... But, I came down here with the idea in mind that I'd never return there..."

Silence filled the space between them as they stared up at the false shining stars on the ceiling. They did look a lot like the night sky, and it was the closest a monster would get to seeing it.

Finally, Alex gave out a light hearted laugh. "Sorry, I just threw all of that on you so suddenly."

"It's fine, kid. I asked, and I'm glad you told me. You know, I'm glad you survived, and I'm sure Papyrus does as well."

She gave another laugh, followed by a sniff. "Yeah... Thanks for taking me in, Sans."

"No problem."

* * *

Never return, huh?

Yet, here he was, a human living on the surface... So, where was she?


	7. Chapter 7

This thought bothered him as soon as he woke up, and stayed as he made his way downstairs. What he hadn't been expecting was the smell of something cooking, which momentarily knocked him out of his thoughts. Walking into the kitchen, he saw Gaster, with his back turned to him.

"Wha-" Sans said sleepily, unable to make a coherent sentence at the moment. However, it got Gaster's attention, and he turned around. With a smile, he said, "You're up early for once."

"What time is it?"

"About nine in the morning."

"Wow," Sans said, his voice sounding just as surprised as well. His eyes wandered to the window, and he noticed little white flakes drifting in the air. He hurried over, getting a better look outside, and saw it was snowing. Apparently the weather was now cold enough to bring in snow, but not enough to cover the ground, so the snowflakes melted as soon as they hit the grass or pavement.

"Snow shouldn't be that big of a surprise to you," Gaster said in amusement, turning back to the stove.

Sans shrugged, turning away from the window. "Never seen it up here. What does surprise me is.. you can cook?"

Gaster nodded, letting out a small laugh. "I just don't have time to, nor can I make anything overly complicated. Pancakes, however, I'd say I'm good with."

Sans let out a small noise is recognition, and finally he sat down at the table. A few moments of silence passed by, before Sans was hit with a moment of realization. "Is Pap still asleep?"

"Of course not, I don't think he can sleep past ten. He went out with Undyne after he saw the snow, saying he's going sledding. He should be coming back shortly."

Speaking of the devil, suddenly the door slammed open, and instantly the sound of yelling was able to be heard.

"I TOLD YOU WE COULDN'T!"

"IT'S BECAUSE YOU GAVE UP SO EASILY THAT WE COULDN'T!"

"PAPYRUS WE OBVIOUSLY CAN'T IT'S NOT EVEN STAYING ON THE GROUND!"

"THERE MUST'VE BEEN A PERFECT SPOT-"

And on and on the shouting went, along with noises that sounded like marching upstairs, or one of them slamming their feet on the ground. Sans knew better than to think that this was actual fighting, because the two of them frequently had these sort of yelling matches whenever something didn't seem to go right for one of them. In fact, it was rather amusing, if you could get past the fact it gave you the most head splitting headache after a while of it.

Thankfully, they stopped shouting when they finally noticed the smell of food, and Papyrus dashed into the kitchen.

"Oh my gosh! Dad, you never cook!" He exclaimed, hurrying over and looking over him to the pan on the stove, and Gaster let out a light chuckle. "I have some free time today, so I decided to make breakfast."

"Pancakes?!" Undyne shouted, hurrying into the kitchen as well with a wide, toothy grin. "Can I have some?!"

Gaster nodded, and said, "Of course, I made a lot, and it would be rude to torment you with food you couldn't eat."

Sans chuckled lightly. Papyrus and Undyne got plates and filled them to the max with pancakes, drenching them in syrup and butter, quite possibly seeing who could put more of it on until the pancakes became a sloppy, sticky mess. However, before Papyrus started eating, he quickly got up, and got Sans his own plate of pancakes with a wide grin. "Oh, thanks Pap," Sans said, as he had zoned out and his mind wasn't even on the thought of eating.

"It's so rare I get to see you without a mask!" Undyne suddenly said, looking up and over at Sans as if it was the most fascinating thing ever.

"It's not that big of a deal," he said, removing the medical mask from around his ears and placed it on the table. "See? No big deal."

"Yeah, but it's rare!"

"My brother has a great smile! That's why we drew that smile on his medical mask, so he could always share it with the world even when it's on!"

Sans laughed, blushing a bit in embarrassment. Well, maybe it was a big deal to Undyne, but he couldn't see why it should be. Eventually, Gaster sat with them at the table to eat as well, and conversation broke out in between eating. Sans kept asking if he could put ketchup on the pancakes, which only grossed all of them out, but it made him laugh every time.

It was moments like these that made him feel normal. It didn't matter that he and everyone here had once been a monster. In moments like these, it was only there and now that mattered, it was only the conversation and the fear of getting syrup everywhere that mattered. Nothing else. His old memories didn't matter, his fake ones didn't matter, and for once, he felt normal.

After eating, it turned out that Gaster actually did have almost the whole day to waste at home, and after a while Alphys came knocking at their door, with Mettaton and Napsta following behind.

"Oh, this is a lovely home," Mettaton complimented as he walked in, his cousin following close behind as usual, but had nodded in agreement.

Gaster introduced himself to the cousins, not at all surprised that a famous actor had just walked into his house. Or perhaps he was surprised and was just really good at keeping quiet about it. If that were true, he should become an actor himself.

Sans was also relieved that the house was large enough to hold this many people in it at once. It was a little surprising as well, and they would've been out of luck if the house was any smaller. How was Gaster okay with this many people coming into the house like this? So far everyone had only ever came over when Gaster wasn't in the house.

It was energetic, with Papyrus and Undyne being the loudest, however sometimes Mettaton seemed as if he was challenging them because he'd get loud as well before quickly calming down. Alphys had brought a set of anime, which she so deeply loved along with Undyne, however this turned into an argument with Mettaton calling it garbage, and Sans could have sworn he saw Undyne ready to kill him. The poor guy.

After a while, Sans had to step out of the house. The energy was nice, but it was a bit too much at once, so he decided to make a trip to Grillby's. It had a calming atmosphere, and the smell was something he couldn't get enough of. It was warm, and overall just relaxed him. The sky was a dark grey, and the snow drifted downwards gracefully until it reached the ground. There was only a little covering surfaces here and there. Sans put up his hood as he began walking in order to keep out some of the cold.

Suddenly, the world around him changed. He was no longer in the small town surrounded by silent snow. Instead, it looked to be a long corridor, with him standing on one side of it, however it was a side he wasn't used to. He had just entered, and in his place where he normally stood at the far end was Frisk and the girl named Alex.

"H-Hey, what're you-"

"Just go back, Sans," said Alex, her back faced to him. Her hand was currently in one of Frisk's, who was turned to him and looking at him with a sad, almost guilty expression. "Just... Go back."

It took a moment before he could say anything, and what came out first was a nervous chuckle. "You know, if.. If you go through there... Then, Asgore.."

"I know what Asgore will do."

"Then just come back, Papyrus is-"

"Please, go back, Sans. I don't want you or Papyrus seeing this."

He took a few steps forward, and only stopped because he saw Alex finally turn around and face him, however she was refusing to look at him, at his face. "I said please. Just go."

"I don't know what you're doing, but you aren't thinking it through."

"I've had a lot of time to think things through... If you won't go back, then..."

She raised her hand, and he didn't fear her attacking him, she had no fighting stats to do so, and no magic that could be used offensively. Instead, a black, magical barrier appeared between them. Sans panicked, and ran straight to it, hitting it with his hand.

Finally, Alex looked at him, and her expression could have killed anyone. It was sad, almost pained, as she smiled at him. "I'm sorry, but I have to do this. It's the only way. Sans... I know you don't like to, but can you promise me something?" She didn't wait for a reply as she continued. "If I'm brought back, and you remember... Please... Can you find me..? I don't want to be alone again..."

He didn't know what those words meant. Brought back? What on Earth could that even mean? And if he remembered? Why wouldn't he remember, he remembered every RESET that went on, every time a new save point was loaded. He remembered everything!

Finally, after a few moments of silence, she once more turned her back to him. "Goodbye, Sans," she said, her voice sounding strong, but it was clearly fake, and without waiting for a reply once more, her and Frisk walked on.

Once more he pounded heavily on the barrier, but knew it would never break unless she made it, and he couldn't go around it because of how strong her soul was. He began shouting, hoping for a way for her to hear, to come back and forget whatever it was they were doing. It must not be a good idea if she didn't plan on coming back.

The scene changed once more, and Sans fell to his knees, panting heavily. He was shaking, as he wrapped his arms around himself tightly. Never had he had that happen while awake, and it didn't help that it was so emotionally intense. He felt like his throat was closing up, and the feeling of complete panic lingered in him, and the feeling of dread.

Now he was left with more questions. Why had she decided to go see Asgore when she knew it would only lead to her death? And after so many RESETs, it was just suddenly thrown in here, she had never had the thought or spoken about going to see Asgore, let alone leave the Ruins. She had promised Toriel and him that she wouldn't, so why would she suddenly go and do that?

Lucky for him, there was no one around at this hour, so there was no onlookers to see him and think he was completely crazy. Well, he guessed he was, but he didn't want others to think so. It was just so... strange. Why did that happen while awake? It was so vivid too, as if he had been standing there right at this moment. The person he was searching for was within reach, right there, and he cursed himself inwardly that he hadn't gone and done more to stop them. Maybe it he was just a little quicker, a little more convincing, but he was panicked and had no clue what to say or do. He didn't even know how her and the kid were able to even make it that far, since Undyne would have speared them as quick as she could to at least bring one soul to Asgore.

Nothing made sense. Sans finally stood up, collecting himself, and caught his breath. He didn't need another incident of passing out, this time in the streets while snowing. That would've looked bad, and just made everyone worry. Once more he cursed inwardly, but now at whatever anomaly that decided it'd be best to give him the poorest health they could think of without killing him. He started walking again, this time looking down and his heart feeling much heavier.

Sometimes he would think searching for this Alex person was pointless. He hadn't found her yet, so why continue? It was just so much easier for him to give up than to either not end up finding her at all, or her not knowing who he is and wanting nothing to do with him, or Papyrus. She didn't even seem sure that she was going to come back, so why bother? ... But then he saw things like this, where she just looks so pained, and sad and lonely, and he's suddenly filled with determination to find her, no matter what. He made a promise as well, and he really hated promises, but this was one he was intending on keeping, for her sake. She never said anything about her life on the surface anyways, so he didn't know what kind of situation she was in. Just maybe he'd be able to help her out, and he'd finally be able to get a good nights sleep for once.

But just maybe this is where they cut ties. Maybe it was only something that lasted in the Underground, and here she no longer needed them, if she was here. She'd be looking for them too, right? Well, if she did even remember, and if she did end up coming back with the rest of them. He'd be real mad if she didn't.

As he was walking up to a bridge that went across a small stream of water, he noticed something peculiar. There was a figure standing on the top of the flat, cement railing, wearing a hood to cover their face, or whatever could be seen. He could only see their back, and he knew they hadn't seen him, or possibly heard him either. So, quietly he walked over, confused as to why they were standing there.

And then they fell forward...


	8. Chapter 8

"C'mon kid, I can't hold you forever!"

Sans had rushed over, luckily he hadn't been too far away, and grabbed a hold of their hand as they fell forward. As a result, they were now leaning over the water below, and if his hand slipped or they moved a certain way, then they'd instantly fall to the water below.

They said nothing for a few moments, just looking at him with tired eyes, before saying, "So... Then just let go."

"No way!" Sans said as if that was the most obscene thing he had ever heard. What was worse was he felt his grip giving out, but he couldn't grab with his other hand because he was already leaning over the railing as well, keeping them from falling. It took a few more moments, but finally they grabbed onto him with their other hand, and with his help he pulled them back from the edge, and away from the railing.

He leaned on the other side of the bridge, catching his breath, as the person sat leaning on the railing from where they had previously stood.

"What were you doing, kid? That was... pretty dangerous."

"That was the point."

Silence filled the space between them, other than his heavy breathing and the sound of cars in the distance. Well, he felt pretty stupid for asking, it was quite clear what they had been trying to do, but his mind for some reason couldn't take it as an answer. Their hood kept most of their face hidden from him, and until now he hadn't gotten a good look at their face. However, one thing that was quite noticeable was how badly they were shivering. It wasn't too cold outside, but he guessed the hoodie they were currently wearing had to be thin if that was happening.

After he caught his breath, he walked over to them and held out his hand. "I'm Sans."

They looked up, and now he was able to see their face, and it caused his heart to skip a beat. This was who he had been searching for. They looked exactly the same, sounded the same. They met in the snow before, and now, ironically, this is how they're meeting again.

"I... I'm Alex," she said, taking his hand, noticing his shock, and he helped her up to her feet.

This was Alex. He felt sadness and joy fill up in him. The last time he had remembered seeing her was in the corridor, and now here they were once more meeting, except he wasn't a skeleton, this wasn't underground, and there would be no more RESETs, so he figured he'd better not mess up..

"Sans?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"You can let go of my hand."

While he had been lost in thought, he had forgotten about letting go of her hand in his, and after realizing so he laughed nervously, taking his hand back and shoving it in his pockets. "Sorry, got kinda distracted for a moment."

Alex nodded, looking away from him. "Anyways... Uh, thanks.. I guess... See ya," she said, turning around to walk away. No, he didn't want to lose her again after he had been looking for her everywhere, he couldn't or he would go mad.

"Hold up," he said quickly.

She was about to turn around when she felt weight across her shoulders and back, and realized he had placed his blue sweater over her. Finally, she turned around, blinking at him in confusion. "You seemed pretty chilled," he said, shrugging. "I know a place that's pretty warm, and has great food. Wanna come?"

Frowning, it took her a few minutes to respond, looking at the blue sweater. She seemed to be in some kind of internal debate, before finally nodding as she put her arms in the sweater, and looked warmer instantly. He laughed lightly before he began walking. Now he realized just how cold it was, but thankfully Grillby's wasn't too far. He heard hurried footsteps behind him, before finally seeing Alex walking beside him.

To him, it felt like he was being reunited with an old friend he hadn't seen in many, many years, and it made him feel warm inside. Now he didn't have to keep searching for her, wondering if he'd ever see her again. He knew Papyrus would love to become friends with her, even if he didn't remember her. They got along great in the Underground, at least from what he could tell from his dreams and what he remembered.

They walked silently, Alex now wearing two hoods from not only her hoodie, but now from his blue one, and it was a little funny looking, but he didn't say anything about it in case she would get angry and leave. That was the last thing he wanted, losing her again and then having her also mad at him. Also, she might try running with his sweater... He hoped she wouldn't do that. One thing he remembered also was how much she liked to steal his sweaters in the Underground for whatever reason.

After some time they got to Grillby's. Sans held the door open for Alex, who seemed really pleased at the rush of warmth the moment she walked in to the point he thought he saw her smiling a bit. Letting out a light chuckle, Sans made his way for his favorite spot as Alex followed close behind, looking around as she did so. At this time, there wasn't many people in the place, but at times it can be packed and loud. Luckily that wasn't the case, he wouldn't want to scare her away from this place.

He sat down, and she took a seat next to him, lowering the hoods to get a better view of everything. "Order whatever you'd like, it's on me," he said to her, getting her attention. She nodded a little, one that looked nervous.

Grillby came over after a few moments. He held his hand out to Alex, and they introduced themselves to one another. They gave their orders, Sans a burger and Alex a chili dog, and Grillby walked away as he nodded.

"Does he talk much?" Alex asked Sans, tilting her head at him.

He shook his head. "Nah, not much of a talker, but he's a great listener. Always tries making his customers feel at home and welcomed."

Alex nodded, and seemed to smile a bit more. Just like when they first met, it was a bit of a process to get her comfortable and to open up, but this time he could tell she was much quicker. Could it be because she remembers too? Or maybe it's like the others, feeling like they already had a bond, which was making it easier for her to open up.

However, after a moment, she frowned heavily and looked down. "Sans?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"... We're strangers... Why're you being nice?"

Strangers... So perhaps she didn't remember. The thought caused his chest to tighten up. Of course she wouldn't remember, unlike him, she had no knowledge of RESETs, and she wasn't able to use them like Frisk was able to. Anyone who didn't know of them clearly had no memories of the Underground.

"You looked like you could use a good hot dog," he said with a shrug.

She gave a heavy frown as she nodded. It seemed like the best answer to give, since you couldn't just tell someone you remembered them from someplace that no longer existed that was full of magic and monsters. That would have gone real well.

Finally, Grillby came over with the food and placed it on the counter in front of them. After walking away, there was a loud grumbling noise. Instantly, Alex blushed deeply. "Haven't eaten in a while?" Sans said in amusement, taking off the medical mask. The girl didn't answer, and instead shoved her mouth full of food so she wouldn't have to. They ate in silence.

At times, the silence seemed awkward, but most of the time as they sat there in the restaurant, with the warmth surrounding everything and the smell of smoke and flames in the air, as faint music played in the distance and the occasional chatter of the few who were currently in the small restaurant, it seemed as if nothing else could touch them. It was a comfortable silence that filled the space between them, one he had felt time and time again, and he only hoped that somewhere in her that she felt the link connecting them too, because it'd be really awkward if she didn't and this was just some completely random stranger who took her to get something to eat.

Gosh, he hoped so much she remembered something...

Grillby had walked over when he noticed the two were done, and asked Alex if she liked her food, and that he hoped to see her again sometime. With a small smile, she had nodded. At least she liked this place, unlike Papyrus. Sans had told him about coming back to this place, and his answer was one full of disgust, and rambled on about how unhealthy and greasy the food was. Oh well, this kind of food wasn't meant for everyone. That's okay.

Before leaving, Alex suddenly realized she was still wearing the blue jacket, and cursed under her breath in realization as she quickly took it off and handed it back to Sans. "I'm so sorry," she said, embarrassed, as he slipped it back on. With a small grin, he shrugged, and put back on the medical mask. Alex blinked for a moment, before getting off the chair. "I, uh... Don't have any money," she said.

"It's cool. Put it on my tab, Grillz."

"Pay your tab."

"I'm working on it," he said, the grin obvious through his eyes as he got down from the seat. With Alex following behind, they left the small place. Instantly, Alex missed the warmth from inside, and put her hands deep in her pockets and her hood up over her head.

"Want me to walk you home? It's pretty late," Sans offered up. Also, because he wanted to see just how far she lived from him.

However, Alex quickly shook her head. "Ah, no... That-That's fine, I can get home on my own."

Right, strangers. It was a little creepy, wasn't it? Or maybe she had another reason... Well, he wasn't about to pry, and he just shrugged, before finally, he managed to say, "Are you gonna be okay, kid?"

"What?"

"I mean... Bridges are pretty dangerous."

"... Yeah. I'll be fine."

"Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah.."

Sans nodded, putting his hands into his pockets. "Hope to see you around, kid."

She nodded once more, as he turned around and started walking away from her. Everything in him was screaming to go back, to say something more to her, anything that would make sure he would see her again definitely.

However, this time it was her turn to watch him walk away. Alex watched for a few moments, before slowly turning around and started walking home, with a heavy heart, but this time she kept away from anything dangerous and made it home safely. The interaction caused her to feel just a little bit lighter than before, but she couldn't figure out why. Letting out a heavy sigh that came out as a puff of smoke, she looked upwards at the cloud covered sky, making it so her only light was the street lights around her. It filled her with sadness as it covered up the brilliant night sky she was so in love with.

It was a meeting that seemed to be with an old friend rather than a stranger.

Odd...

Sans arrived back home, only to find that all their home intruders were passed out here and there in the living room. Undyne and Alphys taking up most of the couch, Napsta squeezed on the farthest end, and Mettaton leaning on the couch right below his cousin. Sans sighed heavily, and shook his head.

"Oh, you're finally home," Sans looked up at the sound of his brothers voice, who was carrying blankets in his hands and smiled widely at Sans. "Mind helping?"

"Heh, sure, Paps," he said, taking a blanket. After a few moments, they got their guests covered up in soft, warm blankets, as well as placing a pillow near Mettaton in case he woke up and wanted to lay his head on the ground.

Finally the brothers went upstairs, and before walking into his room, Papyrus turned to Sans. "You seem in a better mood. Tell me about it in the morning, okay?"

"Of course," Sans said with a nod and a grin, before Papyrus went into his room and closed the door.

It was true, he was in a better mood, at least he felt like he was as he flopped down onto his bed. Of course, there still was the worry of never seeing her again, but he got to at least once, at least know she was here. And he hoped he'd be able to find her again before something happened...

For once, his mind didn't torment him, and he fell asleep rather quickly and peacefully.


	9. Chapter 9

A few days passed in between their first meeting and next.

The snow continued to cover the ground until there was enough to cover all that was once green in a few layers in pure whiteness. The temperature grew colder, and the days got shorter. Sans would head to Grillby's almost every day, and ask if Alex had been there. Every time, Grillby would shake his head, and the longer this went on the heavier his heart felt. He did tell Papyrus the next day about meeting, and he seemed rather excited and wanted to meet her as well. Of course they should meet, in the Underground they were very good friends, and cooked together a lot. Though, he didn't think she had any previous relations with anyone else, since she hardly ventured out of Snowdin.

When they met again, that morning Papyrus had woken Sans up excitedly, and offered the idea of going out to play in the snow. He said if he wanted to join, everyone else was waiting for him. At first, Sans was going to decline the offer in order to go to Grillby's and wait there in case Alex showed up, but finally decided to go with Papyrus and the others.

Alphys, Mettaton and Napsta were already at the park waiting, and Undyne had walked with the brothers there. Of course, since Undyne was there, some kind of war was declared, and they either raced with sleds or threw snowballs. Or both. Sans chose to sit out, sitting on a bench and watching the others happily play. Once more, he felt a sense of peace overcome him as he listened to their laughter and voices, and watch them have a great time playing.

It wasn't until he felt a tug at his sleeve that he took his eyes off the group, and looked down to see Frisk, who smiled widely at Sans as if challenging the permanent grin that was drawn into his mask.

"Well, hey there, Frisky. Where's your mom?" He asked, tilting his head at them.

Frisk shook their head, and pointed over down the path. He looked up, expecting to see Toriel followed by her son, however he saw someone different. His eyes widened, and he probably would have fallen off the bench.

"Oh, hey it's you," Alex said as she neared, looking at Sans with a bit of a smile. "What a coincidence."

"Frisk, leave funny man alone, let's go play!" Chara said as the came running over, grabbing the other's arm and pulling them towards the group in the middle of some sort of snowball war. As always, Asriel followed after, looking a bit nervous but excited.

The female took a seat on the bench, once more visibly shaking from the cold but couldn't protest. "Those your friends?" she asked, pointing to the group the children had just run over to.

"Ah, yeah," Sans answered after a moment, regaining himself and his voice to finally talk and not say something stupid. "Where's their mother?"

"Tori? I babysit for her sometimes. It's nice, when Chara decides to be nice to me that day. It's random."

Sans nodded in understanding. Wow, he'd known these kids and Toriel longer, yet he hadn't known that she would babysit the kids on occasion. It was never brought up in conversation, and he never saw her with them either, it had always been Toriel. Well, that was something good to know, since out of the others, it had been Toriel that she would talk with other than the brothers. Frisk always seemed to like Alex as well, they were almost as close as siblings.

"That your brother?" She asked, pointing.

"Yeah... Did I tell you I have a brother?" Sans asked after realization hit him. He couldn't remember talking about Papyrus with her when they first met. However, realization must have hit her as well, as she blinked and lowered her hand to her pockets. "No. He just looks like you, I guess," she said with a bit of a shrug.

Maybe if she didn't remember, at least something like muscle memory did, and that's why she was able to tell. Then again, him and Papyrus did look pretty alike. Some siblings looked noticeably different, some looked a lot like twins. Weird gamble.

The group and children continued playing, as Sans and Alex sat there in silence once more, just watching the interaction go on. The silence that floated around them was once more reassuring, at least to him it felt that way. There was so many things he wanted to talk with her about, to ask her and see if anything would get answered, but for some reason just sitting in silence was enough and made him feel at ease. No haunting thoughts flooded his mind, nothing of the Underground, it was all here and now, and how he finally found her.

She had turned to him to say something, when she was hit in the chest and white exploded around her, some getting in her face. Quickly, the two looked over at the group. Chara was laughing hysterically, with Frisk giggling beside them. Papyrus looked embarrassed and wide eyed. "I'm sorry!" He quickly said to the stranger. "I didn't mean that!"

"YES HE DID!" Undyne challenged.

Alex frowned, before saying, "What's your name?"

"I-I'm the great Papyrus!" He said, still a bit embarrassed and now looked nervous after seeing her expression.

"C'mon, kid, he said sorry," Sans said with a shrug.

"I don't care," she said, now standing up with her hands deep in her pockets. "Do you know what you just did?"

Papyrus didn't answer, no one did. The only sound was Chara's and Frisk's laughter and giggled from the sidelines.

"Asriel!"

The tall male was suddenly hit in the head with white, which caused him to stagger a little. "You, sir, have declared war! Get him!" Alex exclaimed loudly, the the children let out shouts of laughter as they all scooped up snow. Alex as well leaned down, making snowballs of her own, and throwing them.

"TREASON!" Papyrus called, now trying to use Undyne as a shield. She just laughed madly, taking joy into this sudden declaration of war and thriving on it.

Sans watched, and sighed with relief. He was glad that Alex hadn't actually been mad at Papyrus, and then realized he couldn't remember a time when Alex had been upset or mad at him anyways. The only time she came close was when something would go wrong with cooking and things would catch fire, but she'd instantly smile and would tell him it was all alright. Now she had joined in a game of snowball wars, and more laughter filled the air. Even though they were all strangers, they seemed to be getting along quite well currently.

It didn't take much longer before everyone was tired and shivering from the cold and all the snow in places it shouldn't be. It was clear that if they spent any longer playing, at least someone would go home with a cold.

Alphys and the cousins were the first to state on returning home, however before they left, Undyne rushed to catch up, claiming that she wanted to go over to her place for a while and would meet up with the brothers later. It was just Sans, Papyrus, the children and Alex left at the park now.

"I should get these kids home now," Alex said, breathing heavily with a red face yet a smile across her lips.

"Why don't you and they come over?!" Papyrus offered up, grinning heavily and looking excited by the idea. "We can talk more then and become friends!"

Alex frowned in thought for a moment, as the children begged and pleaded around her. Finally, she said with a sigh, "Okay, let me call Tori first and ask if it's okay. Mind watching them for a moment?" She asked the brothers, who agreed and she walked away to get some quiet to talk on the phone that she pulled out of her pocket.

The brothers were left alone with the children, which Papyrus had no problem with. In fact, he took this time to learn their names better, and questioned why Frisk never spoke, to which Chara answered everything for them, or occasionally it would be Asriel who would. Though, Sans couldn't help but notice the strange side looks Chara would throw his way every now and again, as if they didn't like him or something. Well, if they remembered the Underground, it was reasonable, but that couldn't be the reason.

Finally, Alex returned, grinning widely as she put the phone back in her pockets. "Well, good news kids, Tori said yes."

The three cheered happily, as did Papyrus.

"Lead the way, then," Alex said after their cheering, and took Asriel's hand gently in hers.

"The great Papyrus shall be the best leader!" He exclaimed, instantly taking the lead, but was stopped by Chara and Frisk. "Wait, wait!" Chara said, grabbing one arm while Frisk grabbed the other. "Frisk wants a ride! You're tall!" Frisk nodded excitedly.

"Come on, you two, don't make him have to carry you," Alex said with a frown.

"No problem, little one!" Papyrus said, ignoring Alex's statement. He took Frisk up into the air, before resting them on his shoulders lightly. "You get to be the lookout!"

Frisk giggled happily as they nodded, with Chara walking closely by them and demanding a turn next time, which Papyrus promised to do. Alex just sighed heavily as she followed, clearly amused though. Asriel held tightly onto her hand, and stayed close by her side, though watched his siblings up ahead with a wide, happy smile. Sans walked beside her, grinning under his mask at his brother. It was easy to smile and feel better whenever Papyrus was around.

Alex and Sans said nothing as they walked, more listening to the conversations going on ahead of them, and it didn't take long until they reached the brothers' home. Instantly they were hit with warm air once they walked inside, Papyrus setting Frisk down carefully once doing so.

"Don't make a mess," she told the children, who seemed to ignore her other than Asriel, nodding slightly. "Do you guys have towels I can dry them off with?"

"Paps, you go get changed, I'll help them out," Sans said, having already removed his winter gear, and it didn't take long since he hadn't done anything.

"I shall return!" Papyrus exclaimed in agreement after removing his gear and rushed upstairs, hearing a loud slam after him. Sans chuckled lightly, leaving them for a moment to grab some towels, quickly returning with them in his arms and saw that Alex had already helped them take off their coats and whatever else they had been bundled up with.

"Oh, thanks," she said, looking up and took one from him, throwing it on Asriel's head to get out any moisture his hair may have gotten in it, then his hands and feet. She repeated this process for the other two until they were mostly dried off, besides some of their clothing, but that would just air dry. Luckily, that's when Papyrus made his way back down the stairs, wearing a large sweater, different pants, and still the same orange scarf that swayed behind him.

"Come, tiny children!" He exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips and looking like he was standing in a heroic pose. "I shall show you around the home of the great Papyrus!"

Joyfully, the children ran over to him, giggling widely. Alex sighed with relief at having them occupied for a moment so she could finally remove her gear. She sniffed, before finally sneezing and sighed in annoyance.

"Got a cold?" Sans asked, giving a quizzing look to her. She shook her head. "Nah, just really sensitive to the cold. Could be the middle of summer with a heat wave and I'll still be cold."

"Wow, sounds pretty chilling."

Alex gave a loud snort with laughter, causing her face to redden in embarrassment. He had forgotten she actually enjoyed his puns, and he smiled a little at this thought. It was amusing when Papyrus would yell at him for them, but it was also nice to have a wonderful audience every now and again.

"No hoodie today?" He asked her, after she had removed her coat and the only thing she was wearing was a loose tank top, much unfit for weather like this. "Oh! Oh, yeah, my parents wouldn't let me wear any. My siblings stole all my other shirts, so I kinda just had this for today."

"Aren't ya cold?"

She shrugged. "I always am."

He let out a chuckle of amusement, before he turned around and motioned for her to follow. They walked up the stair, and Sans lead her to his room, opening up the door. It wasn't as messy as it normally had been, Papyrus had recently helped him in trying to organize it a little. Still messy, but not too terrible.

As he walked over to his closet, she walked over to the desk which had been cleaned off a little, and looked at the books. There were many on science, all different types of sciences, though the ones that caught her attention the most were the astronomy ones. When Sans turned back to face her, that's what he found she had currently opened up and was flipping through slowly, skimming and looking over the pictures of many stars, constellations, and galaxies all just above them, but were currently hidden and way too far out of reach for any person.

"Space nerd?"

"Mostly," she nodded. "Though I do like other types of science as well," she closed the book and set it back on the desk. Sans handed her an extra hoodie of his, one he knew was most recently cleaned and he hadn't worn yet. Hesitantly, she took it, raising her eyebrows at him in confusion.

"You seem pretty uncomfortable without something on, it's pretty cold," he said with a shrug. Finally, she put the sweater on, and once she did she gave him a small smile of gratitude. "Thanks."

"No problem. We probably should go help Pap, though, before the kids try trampling him."

"Oh gosh, I forgot," her eyes widened, and she quickly rushed out of his room and he heard her footsteps as she made her way downstairs. He laughed in amusement, taking his time to follow along.

* * *

 _((Authors note! So, though not sure if I've made it clear yet, but I've kept out physical descriptions for the purpose of you guys wanting to decide for yourself what each character looks like now. I thought that would be more fun than me just telling you! Also, so far I have no intentions of including ships other than UndynexAlphys, you may imagine any becoming canon after the story! HOWEVER! If there is a ship you would like me to write, please send me a message! It will all be done after the story, or perhaps some point thrown in as a filler with no relation to the plot if I somehow end up on a writers block! It all depends!_

 _Thank you for reading my story so far! All reviews are greatly appreciated!))_


	10. Chapter 10

"You guys got any sweetener? Or like, flavoring? Something?"

"Nah, just sugar. We all take coffee black here."

"That's probably why you're so short, Sans, I told you coffee is bad for you!"

"Get me out of here... You people are crazy... No flavoring..."

Alex looked revolted by the thought of drinking any coffee without sweeteners and added flavoring such as french vanilla, and Papyrus just over all seemed disappointed in the two for even drinking that much caffeine. Maybe the shortness was true, but come on, that can't be a real thing that happened. It was just to scare kids away from every even trying the stuff.

... Right?

The kids were given hot chocolate before they all fell asleep on the couch in one big pile, having been exhausted from a day of playing outside, and the tormenting Papyrus after getting to the house. Toriel wouldn't be around to get them for a while, she had said over the phone that she would be by sometime later to get her kids and bring Alex home.

Now, Alex was currently looking through every food cabinet in the house in search of something to make the thought of coffee even remotely pleasing, having refused to drink any hot chocolate since it wouldn't contain caffeine necessary to keep her awake. Sans and Papyrus sat at the table just watching her on her own quest, though no matter how much they convinced her she was determined to find something.

"You people are terrifying," she said in horror, finally giving up her search and sitting down at the table, resting her chin on it in defeat. "Coffee without sweetener... You're crazy..."

Sans chuckled lightly, raising an eyebrow as he watched her become so defeated. "Coffee isn't good for you anyways!" Papyrus said in a matter of fact tone. "Drink milk! It'll help you build strong bones!"

"I don't want strong bones I want to almost cause my heart to explode from caffeine overdose."

Papyrus looked terrified at her, while Sans covered his mouth to muffle his laughter as his shoulders shook up and down.

"You shouldn't want that!" Papyrus shouted.

"Shhh!" Alex scolded quickly, putting her index finger over her mouth. "You're gonna wake the kids up."

"Oh, oops... Sorry."

She laughed a little and shook her head, sitting up now. Leaning with her back against the back of the chair, she crossed her arms over her chest, hiding her hands under her arms and getting them lost in the oversized sweater that she still wore.

"Um, Alex?"

The female turned to Papyrus when he said her name, raising her eyebrows in attention and wondering why he had called to her.

"Why are you wearing one of my brothers sweaters?"

"Pap she's been wearing it since she got here like two hours ago."

"I know! But the kids were too distracting!"

Alex laughed a little, and shrugged. "He let me borrow it, since the only thing I have under this is a tank top, and I get cold really easily... I think I'll keep it."

Sans shrugged and laughed lightly, while Papyrus was the one to freak out more than him, looking very panicked by this for some reason and was spewing nonsense about how it would be stealing if she didn't ask, and that Sans would more than likely be heartbroken from losing one of his favorite sweaters. He only relaxed when the noise of the door opening caught their attentions, and in a few moments Gaster appeared in the doorway.

"Oh, I was just about to ask why there were sleeping children on my couch, but I see we have more company," he said.

Alex quickly stood up, looking a bit nervous. "Oh, hello, I'm sorry I met up with Sans at the park and they were really cold and soaked from the snow so they offered for me to take them here and-" Gaster cut her off with a wave of his hand, a small smile and shook his head. "It's all right, I don't mind. We normally have company over anyways. My name's Gaster, I'm their father. it's nice to meet you."

He held out his hand, and she only looked at it for a moment before shaking hands with him. "I'm Alex, sir," she smiled a little and relaxed, finally sitting back down after shaking hands.

"Glad to see you made some new friends today," he said as he walked over and poured a cup of coffee. "Four new friends! Wowie!" Papyrus exclaimed in excitement, though was shushed once more by Alex due to his volume. "Do you and the kids need a ride home, Alex?" Gaster asked. She shook her head. "No, their mother, Toriel, is going to get us sometime soon. She'll bring me home as well."

Gaster nodded in understanding. "Well, I'll be in my room if any of you need me," he said as he left the kitchen, taking the cup of coffee with him.

"He seems nice," Alex said after a few moments of him leaving, and smiled a little more.

"Of course, father is very nice indeed!" Papyrus said happily, though was careful to make sure he didn't raise his voice too high this time. Sans also gave a nod, as he said, "Yeah, dadster's pretty great."

Alex propped an elbow on the table, one hand holding up her head. Softly, she muttered something, and before either of the brothers could question what it was she said, her attention and theirs was caught by something else.

"Oh, hey Frisk," she said, as the child entered the room and yawned. "Sleep well?"

The child nodded happily, smiling sleepily as they walked over to Alex, who picked them up and had them sit on her lap, wrapping her arms around their stomach and they laughed lightly. "Hope either of you know sign language," she said with a large smile on her face, "because I have absolutely no clue how to."

"Only a little," Sans said, and his brother nodded in agreement. He couldn't quite remember where he had figured out sign language, but he did know that Frisk used it in the Underground too, however now that he was human it was harder to understand. Maybe he should go and study it more.

"Chara normally translates for them, sometimes Asriel," she explained, although Sans knew this quite well from the previous times he had met up with the children.

"Tiny child," Papyrus said, looking over at Frisk, who smiled widely in return, "why is it you can't speak?"

Frisk looked over at Alex. "I already know this one. Frisk is mute, Toriel said that they never picked up in speaking. No one knows why, though. Frisky won't tell us." In response, Frisk shook their head, still smiling. It was something that normally had to be explained. "While they were learning sign language, Chara did as well, although they don't sign, they only translate for Frisk, and this is how they carry out conversations."

Alex suddenly looked up, before grabbing something out of her pocket. She opened her phone, and smiled a little before returning it back. "Go wake up your siblings, Frisky, your mom is on her way," she said, ruffling their hair before placing them doing. With a nod, Frisk ran happily out of the kitchen to fulfill their deed with determination.

"Those kids seem to really like ya," Sans said. "I wish I had tiny humans that adored me," Papyrus said in longing with a heavy sigh, making Sans chuckle lightly. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, seems as if Frisk is warming up to you real fast," Alex said encouragingly, which gave Papyrus a small smile and caused his face to blush lightly.

"Hey, do you two have numbers, so we can text or call?" She suddenly said, looking back and forth between the brothers.

"Why, of course!" Papyrus said, taking out his own phone and holding it up. Sans gave a shrug as he said, "Yeah, but I don't really use my phone. Pap can give you my number."

Sans watched as the two gave each other their numbers, as well as Papyrus doing just as he said and giving her Sans' number for him. He noticed that Papyrus looked really happy, and it caused him to feel a lightness in his chest. It always made his brother happy whenever he gained a new friend, and he should be friends with everyone in the world. Whatever was going through her mind, Sans knew that Alex would be able to feel better by talking to Papyrus and having him close by. He knew he always did.

It didn't take long for Toriel to show up, by this time all the children were awake and geared up, and hurried out to the car as Alex was getting her own on. Before putting on her coat though, she realized she still had on Sans' sweater. "Oh! I'm sorry, here," she said, taking it off and holding it out to him with a smile. "Thanks for letting me borrow it."

"No problem, kid," Sans said as he took back his sweater, smiling as well, but it would go unnoticed as it was hidden behind his mask.

After giving a goodbye, she left and the house was quiet.

"So, that's who you were telling me about!" Papyrus said happily, turning to Sans with a very wide grin on his face.

Sans nodded. "Yeah, glad you guys finally met."

"I've heard a lot about her at school!"

"Oh?" This was the first time Papyrus had brought this up, so it caught Sans a bit off guard.

He nodded enthusiastically. "A lot of her artwork is shown at school! I just didn't know you meant her!"

Well, that was something he didn't know about. He hadn't known she was an artist. Occasionally in the Underground she would show some interest in art, but he never saw anything that she drew, or if she even cold. Maybe it was just a thing she was able to do here?

"I'm gonna go to bed, Pap. I'm kinda tired."

"Oh, good idea! I'll call you after I make dinner if you wish to eat!"

"Thanks, bro."

Sans walked up the stairs, not feeling whole but not feeling empty either. It was a neutral feeling, and it felt a bit relieving to him. At least he wasn't swamped with overfeeling, however as he passed by Gaster's room, he was stopped by his name being said.

Looking over, the door was a little open, so he walked in and opened it fully. Gaster was seated at his desk, his head in his hands and a bunch of papers thrown this way and that on the desk, some in English and some... not so much. It was a strange form of writing Gaster came up with so no one would be able to read his notes, and possibly steal them. It was called Hands, though only a few possessed hands as symbols, others were some like religious symbols, or ones that looked like cartoon drawings. Strange, but smart at least.

With a loud sigh, Gaster turned and looked over at Sans, and by the look of his expression now knew just how serious this was, whatever it was that he had called him in here for. "Sans, how long have you known those kids? And Alex?" He asked.

Sans shifted, trying to remember how long it had been since he met Toriel and her children. "The kids I've known since I first woke up. I just met Alex about a week ago," he answered honestly. There was no point in lying to him, and if it was troubling Gaster then that meant it was something big and serious.

"Did you ever notice anything... strange about any of them?"

"Like... Like what?" he let out a nervous laughter.

Gaster said nothing for a moment, before turning away from him, and now stared at the notes that were scattered about on the desk. "I'm not quite sure how to put it... Something just seems off about them to me."

"Well, we're in a new place, everyone's bound to act a little different."

"Not in their personalities, Sans. Something much more important than that... Do you remember the use of souls, and how monsters and humans souls were different?"

Sans nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Monster souls were weaker than humans. Humans couldn't use magic." He remembered the basics, and then some. Learning about souls from humans and monsters was rather complicated, so it really didn't seem to bother Gaster too much that Sans didn't. Perhaps everything will come back eventually, but right now he couldn't wait for that.

"Let's go," Gaster said, suddenly standing up and walking to the door.

Sans stepped out of his way, giving a confused look. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Not just me, you as well. We need to go to my lab right now."


	11. Chapter 11

Sans sat in the front seat of the car, Gaster in the driver's seat next to him. It had taken a few moments to get past a confused Papyrus, since Gaster never took one of the brothers to work before, and Sans needed to sleep. However, with some convincing and completely avoiding the plan, they managed to get out of the house and were now on their way in the car.

He looked out the window, and watched everything pass by in a moment of a blur. He didn't get in a car that often, so he felt a little sick to his stomach from the ride, even if it was brief. Thankfully Gaster had gotten a good placement on their house, because it wasn't that long of a drive not only to the hospital but to his place of work as well.

On the outside, the building wasn't all that impressive, but once you got inside... Man, it was something worth seeing if you were a science geek. Sans was ushered quickly by Gaster, so he didn't have long to look around. They walked towards the back of the building, walking through a series of halls and past rooms meant for who knows what, containing also who knows what. Finally, they reached an elevator at the end of the hall, and stepping inside, the only button available was to a basement. Gaster silently pressed the button, and the silver doors enclosed them in the tiny space before taking motion downwards. It caused Sans' stomach to feel like it was being left behind in a funny feeling, but it instantly caught up once they came to a stop and the doors opened once more.

It was a large room, also full of strange things meant for science. The room was dark, until Gaster lead the way and the lights automatically came on, as they were motioned censored. They gave the room a soft white glow, not meant to interrupt any of the equipment or specimens kept here.

"This entire floor yours?" Sans asked, looking around wide eyed and happily, as if he were a kid in a candy store.

Gaster nodded as he said, "I have a few assistance who occasionally work with me. Your friend, Alphys, comes here sometimes. She's my apprentice."

Sans nodded slowly at the information. He hadn't known Alphys would sometimes work here, especially not with his dad. That was actually pretty cool, since he seemed to be the best around, and he wondered why the government hadn't tried taking him away already. Unless they have tried. He didn't know, or couldn't remember if it was some part of his memory. Which also got him wondering just what it was he studied down here, but figured Gaster would be telling him soon, as they reached a section of the room which had papers scattered here and there, even more than the desk at home, where some papers were even scattered on the floor, some with large scribbles, some ripped up.

A monitor was propped against the wall, the screen black, until Gaster pressed a button and it came to life. As it booted up, Gaster picked up a few papers, looking over them a little in deep thought. The only noise between them was the sounds of the monitor and anything that was working in the background as well as the buzz from the lights overhead. He really didn't like the silence between them, it was nothing like the one that fell over him and Alex where no words had to be spoken, it was just a comfortable silence. Though, this wasn't meant to be comfortable, this was meant to be serious.

Finally, the monitor finished booting up, and a new picture took its place and that's when Gaster finally turned back to Sans. "So, you said you remember a little about souls?"

Sans nodded.

"Well, that concept is still into play in out new reality, where each person has a soul unique to them. The only difference is that there no longer exists monster souls. In order for a person to be classified as human, you need a soul. It's what holds you together, causes each person to be unique, and even helps with emotions and feeling. Are you following so far?"

Sans nodded, having understood everything so far. Gaster had turned around at this point, with paper still in one hand and was working with something on the screen which Sans couldn't understand, but guessed it had something to do with souls and where he was getting at with this.

"If the mind is trained," Gaster continued, his back towards Sans, "than an individual has the ability to see these souls if they so wish, or with the help of equipment. To show you, stand over there," he pointed to a machine, which looked pretty harmless, almost as if it were a photo booth. He did as told, walking over and standing where Gaster had pointed to before telling him to hold still. It had taken a few moments, but finally Sans was called back over, and on the screen showed a picture of him.

"I built that in order to capture an image of a human soul to show others. It takes a few moments, but it conveys a very accurate reading of the soul that it captured, as each soul is made of similar things, however each level depends on the person..." Finally, the screen changed. It showed a blue heart, and a few other readings and scales. "That would be what your soul looks like. I'm not too sure what the colour means, but that, too, is unique to each person, even if they look quite similar. It's quite different from the monster soul we had in the Underground, which was made of magic and had no unique qualities like a human soul."

So far, he was able to follow along with what Gaster was saying about the souls. It wasn't too complicated, or at least the way Gaster was describing it it hadn't seemed too difficult to understand.

"With that being said... I have trained myself to see souls without the use of equipment. It was a long, tedious process, but in the end it was worth it."

"Is that how you got your eyesight so messed up?" Sans asked, honestly wanted to know. He guessed right, as Gaster nodded his head with a sigh. "It was still worth it in the end," Gaster said after a moment.

It must have been very important for him if he was willing to throw away his eyesight like that, or whatever charm he had previously that he didn't have now. However, thinking on it, Sans realized he would have done the same if he had to if. Most probably would, no matter the sacrifice if they cared about it enough.

"So, let me explain the children first, as that seems to be the easiest to explain. What were their names... The two that looked very similar.."

"Frisk and Chara?"

"Yes, those two. Well, as I said, each human has their own soul, unique to them. However, I saw that these children only had half a soul, one possessing the others half."

"That's possible?" Sans said, looking surprised as it caught him a little off guard.

"It shouldn't be, but they seem to be sharing a soul with no negative side effects, or at least as far as I was able to tell. Perhaps this one isn't as big of a deal, since it isn't effecting them, and it seems to be a process that is working well, however I will have to keep a close eye on them, as one could easily influence the other in some way if their personalities are opposite each other. Which now leads me to the next child and your new friend, Alex... What was the child's name?"

"Asriel."

"Hmmm... Right, Asgore's child... Well, there's no easiest way to say this, but Alex currently has no soul-"

"WHAT?!"

Gaster jumped at hearing Sans' voice raise above its normal range, and he turned around just to make sure there had been nothing wrong. Sans stood there, looking surprised and quite possibly shaken up a little.

"Yes," Gaster said slowly, nodding a little. "When I first looked at her, I thought I had just not been looking properly, yet I was able to see yours and Papyrus' souls clearly. She lacks a soul, which is why she might seem different from when you remember her in the Underground."

So far, Sans hadn't noticed her acting off in any way. She seemed completely normal, as if she were functioning with a soul. Was living without one even possible? If so, how?

"I cannot tell you how this is possible," Gaster said as if he had read his mind, shaking his head as he turned back to the monitor. "Technically, she shouldn't be alive if she didn't have one, yet here she was... My next point is Asriel. He may not seem like it, but for a while now, I realized he had been living with a borrowed soul."

"Um... A what?"

"The soul he currently has is not his, and I suspect that the soul he has actually belongs to Alex, as it seems to resonate whenever she is near. A borrowed soul and a shared soul are different, as were in a shared one each still has part of it in order to function and classify as human, if you have a borrowed soul that means it's not yours, it could lead to personality differences, sometimes with negative side effects, and could possibly harm the one with the soul missing and the one who is borrowing it. However... Due to this being such a unique occurrence, these are only parts of a hypothesis. There's no telling what could happen to either of them. Sans," he turned back to the younger male, looking much more serious this time, as well as some other emotion Sans couldn't place... "Your friend, Alex, and Asriel could be part of the reason why we are here now. They could be the anomaly that caused all of this."

Sans was famous for his quick wits when under pressure, being able to come up with an idea or a solution to fix a problem on the spot no matter what was thrown at him. However, for this he had no idea how to react, and he didn't even know if there was a way for this to be fixed. How would they give Alex back her soul if it might harm Asriel, or leave him without a soul? What would happen to either of them if this continued on? Why were Chara and Frisk sharing a soul anyways? Did this all have to do with the Underground when they were all monsters?

And what had they done in order to create this new reality?

Gaster placed a hand on Sans, which finally caught his attention. He didn't realize he had begun shaking from thinking so much, and Gaster had already shut down the monitor. "I'm sorry, Sans," he said, his voice sounding apologetic and sad. "I hadn't meant to upset you, but I figured you deserved to know. This could help us to figuring out why we're here if you can talk to Alex and try to get some answers from here. But, save that for later. It's late, Papyrus is waiting at home."

Slowly, Sans nodded in agreement, and they slowly walked out of the lab, back the way they came. Into the car, they took the short drive home, Sans forcing himself not to think anything. It was pretty late when they had finally gotten home, so Gaster went to bed after once more apologizing to Sans. Instead of going to bed as well, Sans instead sat on the couch without the television on and just stared at it blankly. There was so much rushing through his mind now that he didn't know what to do with it, and all he wanted to do was empty his mind and forget everything, start on a blank slate like he did when he first woke up with no memory, just so he wouldn't have to think like this.

The only thing that took him out of his thoughts was the sound of footsteps walking down the stairs, and coming over to the couch. At first, Sans assumed it was Gaster still awake, but was a little surprised when it wasn't.

"Sans, why are you still up? Did you and dad just get home?" Papyrus asked.

He looked up, about to answer, when he noticed that something was off with Papyrus. It was a look of someone who had just saw something they wish they could forget completely, and it made his chest tighten. "Yeah, just got home and decided to sit. Why're you up?"

"Oh, I... I was going to wait for you and dad, but I ended up falling asleep. I think I woke up a little before you guys got home." He explained, sitting down on the couch next to his brother with a heavy sigh. Looking over, Sans also noticed that Papyrus was holding his phone tightly in one hand.

"Were you texting someone?"

Papyrus nodded. "Turns out, Alex is still awake. She asked if you had your phone on you, and said to reply in the morning."

Sans nodded, having completely forgotten that Papyrus had given her his number earlier. It felt like he was forgetting things left and right, but not anything that he wanted to forget. He felt so exhausted now, yet he didn't think he'd be able to get to sleep with the way his mind was racing.

After a few moments of silence, Papyrus spoke up once more. "Brother?"

"Yeah, Pap?"

"Have you... ever woken up from a dream that seemed like as if you actually lived it?"

"...Yeah. Why? Have a bad dream?"

"Yeah," Papyrus said as he nodded slowly, and brought his knees up to him on the couch and hugged closely to himself. "I had a dream about Frisk. It started off really great, it seemed like we were all getting along... but then they started doing terrible things. They started hurting others, and... I got really worried they were going to hurt you, so I went to talk to them, and..."

Sans heard the crack in Papyrus' voice as he tried continuing, but he couldn't, and he watched as his brother closed into himself more. His eyes widened when he realized Papyrus was talking about the Underground, whether he knew it or not, and the worst thing was how he relived his own death which had happened so many times before that Sans was forced to watch so many times. It was terrifying to relive your own death, since Sans has already a few times.

He moved closed to Papyrus, putting an arm around him, until Papyrus pulled away from himself and hugged Sans tightly. "It's okay, Pap," Sans said in what he hoped was a reassuring voice. He didn't have to comfort Papyrus often, as most of the time he was strong enough to not break down like this, but it was so terrifying and so surreal having to watch your own death, even when you were sure you could convince a killer to better their ways.

He felt his chest twist and turn violently. He did want Papyrus to remember the Underground so he would have someone else to talk about it with, but not like this. He didn't want Papyrus to remember his death which happened countless times, he wanted him to remember all the happiness that was there, even if it was short. Papyrus didn't deserve to remember the terrible things that happened there, he didn't deserve to feel such hopelessness when he was so sure he could help others and believed so strongly in everyone to become better and be a good person.

Papyrus eventually stopped sobbing, but both brothers were too tired to go upstairs in order to go to their own bedrooms, so somehow the two managed to fit on the couch and quickly fell asleep that way. Neither was haunted with a terrible dream or memory, as even when in sleep the presence of one another made them feel at ease and safe. Gaster could only sigh and smile the next morning at the sight of this, grabbing a blanket and covering the two with it for whatever remainder of sleep they had left for the morning.


	12. Chapter 12

"So, we meet again, God of Hyperdeath."

"I thought I killed you a long time ago."

"Ha! You can't kill me! You're too weak! Just hand over the crown, or I'll take it by force!"

"No, I'll never let you have it!"

"Then so be it! You have made your choice, and the choice is death!"

"Kids, what are you doing?"

At hearing a bunch of yelling and crashing noises, Alex had made her way upstairs to the children's room. They all turned to look at her, and Frisk started giggling happily. "You ruined it!"Chara shouted, flopping onto the floor and crossing their arms over their chest in a pout. "I was just about to face off with the God of Hyperdeath!"

Alex snorted a bit at the name. God of Hyperdeath. It was a name she was used to by now, as the children would frequently play these sort of role playing games, normally with Asriel being some kind of god, and Chara being some sort of demon rival for him or something. Frisk's role changed depending on what they wanted to do, or how they wanted the story to go. How these children came up with all of this was beyond her, but it was quite adorable, as sometimes the children would even dress up to fit their roles.

Like they were now.

Gosh, so cute. She'd take a picture if she didn't want to deal with their wrath later.

There came a loud gasp from Asriel, as he quickly hurried over to Alex and pulled on her arm. "The Queen of the Stars has chosen to aid me in battle against this demon! I have the upper hand now!"

Alex quickly found herself joining in on their game by force, but it wasn't something she was going to go against. It was actually really fun playing these kinds of games with the children, and since she joined in it was now a battle between Asriel and Alex against Frisk and Chara. It was a heated battle, one that seemed to last for eternity and would surely go down in the history books until Alex had to call it quits.

"Does this mean we won?!" Chara said excitedly.

"No! We're not done yet, Chara!" Asriel said, refusing to let his siblings take an unfair victory. "The Queen of the Stars just has other heroes and gods to go help out! I can fight on my own!"

Before she could even leave the room, the children were back at it, which caused a light laugh come from the female as she left the room and returned back downstairs to the living room. She sat on the couch with a heavy sigh, smiling for a moment, before emptiness too place.

Ever since she could remember, all she felt was... empty. She could laugh, smile, cry, get angry, all those other emotions, but no matter what she would just feel completely empty and tired. It was as if the emotions she felt weren't even real, and all she was inside was just an empty husk with no real thoughts or feelings of her own. It made her mad most of the time to the point where she would have violent bursts of rage, but never near the children. She'd hate herself too much if she were to every break out in a fit of rage near them, so she always made sure to leave long before she had the chance to snap at them.

Today wasn't one of those days, it was just the usual emptiness that would eventually lead to her erupting, but for now she sat there and listened to the muffled laughter and talking of the children upstairs as the continued on with their game happily. Sometimes she envied them, and wished she could go back to being a kid without a care in the world. Growing up sucks, and it made her exhausted.

In her hand, the phone buzzed quietly, and with a small sigh she brought her phone up to look at it. Her dread was changed to happiness when she had seen it was a message from Papyrus, and she smiled a little as she opened the message. It was a picture of him and Undyne, who were currently outside. They had only met recently, yet she felt like she could trust Papyrus, and the two would text each other constantly. She lived on the other side of town, so this was easier than having to go out and make the walk in such cold temperatures. It was rare, but she would get a conversation going with Sans, but they normally took place at night when the whole town was asleep and they were wide awake due to whatever was bothering them and caused them to keep awake.

In response to the picture, after telling him how cool he looked (which he honestly did), she asked him where his brother was at, since her train of thought was already thinking about both of the brothers anyways. She had expected him to say that Sans was out with them, but in the next message she got back he had said that Sans is sick and stayed home. Alex hadn't directly asked about the medical mask, but assumed that he wore it for the purpose of not getting sick and was clearly unwell. Concerned, she asked if he was all right. Luckily, his next text gave her a bit of hope when he said that he should be fine, and just probably overworked himself the day before. Also, he was currently home alone, since Sans had insisted that Papyrus would go out with Undyne, and Gaster had left for work early in the morning.

Looking at the clock, she knew she didn't have much longer to watch the kids, so quickly she texted him, and was thrilled with the response. She had asked if she could go over to their house and keep an eye on Sans, and Papyrus happily agreed and thanked her. She figured he would have been worried about his brother, as she was worried as well, and it would ease Papyrus to know someone was there in case he needed help. Papyrus told her of the spare key they kept outside, mainly for the purpose of the amount of visitors they have and how Sans forgets to bring along his key sometimes, and Alex patiently waited for Toriel to return home.

About twenty minutes later, Toriel did arrive back home with the kids instantly crowding to her. With a smile, she asked Alex how the children were, and Alex answered as always with "They were absolutely perfect." It was no lie, they were nice children and didn't give her too hard of a time.

"I have to get going," Alex said, quickly putting on her shoes.

"Oh, do you need a ride home?" Toriel asked, and Alex shook her head.

"No, I'm heading somewhere else."

"Oh... Oh, alright, well do be careful then."

"Of course, I'll see you all later."

With loud echoes of goodbyes behind her after putting on her coat and making sure she was ready for the weather outside, she left the house and quickly made her way to the other side of town. It was a good ten minutes, but she rushed getting there so it took her seven instead. Of course, she regretted the decision a little as she was out of breath quickly, but figured it was more important to watch Sans than to be concerned about her own health. Arriving at the house, she found the key exactly where Papyrus said it would be, and after unlocking the door she returned it to its original place and entered the home.

She closed the door quietly behind her, and listened to the silent home for a moment. Silence made her nervous most of the time, so she wondered how Sans could be in the house like this all day, even if he was sick. "Sans?" she called as she removed her coat and shoes. There was no response, so she frowned. Of course, the logical way to think was that he was just asleep, but she was worried so she made her way upstairs. She remembered where his room was, so walked down the hall to the door of his room. There was no answer when she knocked on the door, so after some debating, she finally opened the door and walked into the bedroom.

Clearly he didn't clean a lot, as most of the room was the same way the last time she saw it. She frowned. He should take better care of himself, but it was also understandable how he wouldn't have enough energy to do so. However, seeing the mess... all she wanted to do was clean it up.

Alex looked over to his bed, and saw him lying with the blankets twisted around him as he lied there curled up in himself, having also managed to knock off the pillows completely. It didn't look to be very comfortable, but when you're sick you just don't care too much. She had wanted to wake him up to at least let him know she was there, but at the last moment decided against it. Being sick was terrible, he didn't need someone waking him up for anything, so she left the room, leaving the door a bit open, and went downstairs. Dreading the silence, she turned on the television but kept the volume low. She gave Papyrus a quick text to let him know Sans was fine.

Her thoughts started to wander, and she couldn't help but feel like as if she knew Sans and Papyrus from somewhere. There had been something in her telling her that she already knew everything about them. How Papyrus had an undying love for spaghetti even though he couldn't cook too well, how Sans had an obsession with ketchup, but there were also things that just didn't make sense, like how she could so vividly see them being skeletons, and she could see her and Sans watching the stars, though the stars never seemed to be real. Sometimes, this even happened with the children, Frisk specifically. Though, she never brought it up with them, as it was a completely insane thing to say and she didn't want Toriel to cut off all ties they had. Toriel was basically another mother to her, and her kids were like new siblings.

In fact, this happened with mostly everyone she met so far, even at the restaurant Sans had taken her to, Grillby even reminded her of something. Flames, heat, being completely on fire but not being burned. Maybe it was just her overactive imagination at work, but then again everything seemed so real every time it appeared that when she saw everyone again, she was surprised not to see them the way her mind created them to look.

"You breakin' into our house now?"

She was kicked out of her mind when she heard a voice, and turned to see Sans standing there, looking like he just got hit by a car. "Papyrus asked that I'd stay here and keep an eye on you," she said, blinking and tilting her head.

"I don't need babysitting," he grumbled as he walked away, towards the kitchen. Alex sat there and contemplated for a moment, before she finally got up and followed him. He seemed rather cranky, but that's to be expected when you're sick, so she didn't mind too much. Whenever she got sick, it was easy for her to snap at others angrily.

When she went to the kitchen, she saw him downing a huge glass of water with his medical mask placed on the counter. He looked over at her when he was done and sighed. "You don't need to follow me either," he said, looking at the cup as if it offended him in some way.

"I'm not, just kinda got curious and didn't want to sit there anymore. How're you feeling?"

Sans stared at the cup for a long moment, before finally answering. "Better than this morning..." he muttered in response.

Even though he was sick, Alex felt like as if there was something more bothering him. With just the way he was acting and responding to her, it seemed like as if he were seriously thinking about something. He was still staring at the cup as if it offended him too, so she became a little worried about him.

"Is something the matter, Sans?" She asked, a bit hesitant on asking, since he always had a way of avoiding a question he didn't want to answer.

However, he did something that surprised her, and she couldn't figure out if it was really him fully aware of his actions, or if it was the illness talking, but he looked at her, this time able to see the troubled expression he wore fully because of the removed mask. "You," he said. "I don't understand you."

Alex blinked, before smiling awkwardly. "Uh... What do you mean?"

"You feel empty, don't you? So how can you keep going and pretending to have emotions? Why are you empty? How'd this happened? I don't get it, there's so many things that revolve around you, and I can't figure any of it out."

She didn't know how he knew about her feeling empty, or emotionless on the inside. Her eyes widened, and she just stared at him in shock. There was no way he could have known without her telling him, and she was sure she hadn't. It was a thing she kept secret, no one knew. And what did he mean that things were revolving around her? Now he really wasn't making sense, and she was sure it was the illness talking, but for some reason it didn't seem that way...

"I just can't figure out a way to help you," he muttered, once more looking at the cup with hatred.

It really wasn't like him to be talking like this, so Alex just stared at him, wide eyed and mouth open with silence only coming through. Sans sighed heavily, before shaking his head and putting the cup down. "Sorry. Been thinking too much. I'm going back to bed." He turned, and left the kitchen, and she could hear his footsteps as he walked upstairs, hearing the door close, and everything around her went silent.

He now handed her questions that were left unanswered for her to think about.


	13. Chapter 13

Alex had stopped texting Sans after their encounter in his house. Much to his dismay, he couldn't really remember what he had said either to upset her, since he had been aching all over and not feeling well overall. Normally, he made sure to always chose his words carefully, as to not let things slip up, and especially not to hurt her feelings in case she were to hate him, and then he'd never get answers to these questions that he had. Him and Gaster were also no step closer to figuring it out either.

To add on, he also found himself feeling more sick more often than usual, which of course caused Papyrus and Gaster to become heavily concerned, and got him into a doctor whenever possible. It was really tiring having to run all over the place to get tested, be put on new medications and such. Once more, he found himself cursing whoever it was that decided giving him a weak immune system was a great idea. Because this was fun. Totally.

He knew that Alex was still talking to Papyrus because he texts mostly all the time, and him and Undyne never texted that much before.

Sans felt himself really worrying about having upset her. All he wanted to do was try and help for once. Normally he'd sit in the sidelines and just watch, but this one time he actually really wanted to help in order to make things right.

Once more, the seasons were changing, and the cold started giving way to warmth, it was possible to go out now without a heavy jacket on, so while Papyrus was out and Gaster at work, Sans was sitting on a bench in the park. He was zoned out, lost in thought as to how Asriel got a hold of what seemed to be Alex's soul, when he heard a voice beside him.

"Is this seat taken?"

For a fleeting moment he had hoped it to be Alex, but instead he saw Toriel's face, and he gave a light sigh, a little relieved but a little disappointed.

"Nah," he said, "all yours."

She sat on the bench beside him, smiling a little as she watched people pass on by for a moment, silence between them.

"I have a question," Sans found himself saying before he could stop. She turned to face him in attention. With a heavy sigh, he continued. Chara and Frisk... They aren't yours, are they?"

Toriel's smile faded, and now she looked a little troubled. "I knew this conversation was bound to happen... Yes, that's true. Asgore and I had adopted them when they were only babies. They are twins, and they were abandoned by their birth parents. We had spoken of having more children after Asriel, who had also been born just a short time after those two, but we were unsure. However, after seeing those two left alone, well... We just had to take them in. All three are almost inseparable now. I am sure we made the right choice."

By the end, Toriel was now smiling from the bitter sweet memory of her family before it was broken, and gave a sniff. "Sorry... I didn't mean to make you upset..." Sans said, now feeling bad for having asked, but Toriel just shook her head and gave a small laugh. "No, it is all right. It always eventually comes up whenever someone meets my children, so I should be used to telling it by now."

Sans waited a moment, before asking his next question. "How'd you meet Alex?"

Toriel gave another small laugh. "Oh, this one isn't as amazing as the last, I'm sorry. I met her perhaps a year or two ago when I was looking for a sitter. She had been working at the school, and the grade she helped in was the grade and class I teach. She was a teacher's aid, and only came in twice a week, but we began talking whenever the children were busy with something else, and that's when I asked if she would like to start watching my children for me, since she already had such a great relationship with them. She agreed, and has been ever since."

Huh... So they have known each other for quite a while now. That was pretty cool, and he was a little glad that they had met long before because then there was still that hidden connection everyone who was in the Underground had. Frisk and Alex were close, so it was good to know, and a little relieving, since he doesn't know much about her life here, so having someone like Frisk must have been good for her. At least, he hoped so.

"Also, I need to thank you," Toriel said with a kind smile, looking at him. Sans raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Since Alex met you and your brother, she has seemed... Happier. Before meeting you two, she just seemed like as if some part of her was missing, and she doesn't talk to many others, in fact I didn't think her phone could handle so many messages! So, thank you for being her friend. It's quite relieving to see her this way."

Sans felt his chest tighten. He was glad that she was feeling happier, and that Papyrus and him have helped, but he figured Toriel didn't know about how he had upset her. Maybe because she was still talking to Papyrus constantly, but she had stopped talking to him and it made him upset. Maybe this is why he didn't go through with promises, because in one way or another, they always backfired. He'd forgotten that.

Maybe it was best that he would just walk out and try not to help. She has Papyrus now, who is so much better than him because he'd never go and upset her like he did. He just wanted to help, and to find answers, but now he realized how much effort it was.. Was it really the effort? Even if he found the answers to everything going on, it wouldn't change anything, it would only make sense of his dreams, or the invisible connections everyone shared. There's no changing it, or fixing it.

"Did you hear me?"

"Wha-...sorry, I was thinking. What'd you say?"

"I asked if you would like to come to my house for a while. Your brother and father aren't home, right?"

Sans nodded.

"The children are home, and Alex is there. You may come over for a while if you'd like, I'm sure it would make them all very happy. Frisk has taken a particular liking to you!"

Her offer was sincere, he could tell by the smile on her face. He took a moment to respond. He was nervous of seeing Alex and having her hate him, but he wanted to apologize for whatever he said, and not just through texting either. So, finally, he gave a sigh and nod, causing Toriel to smile happily and lead the way to her home. The park was like a Midway point between the two sides of two, so it hadn't taken long for them to reach the very welcoming home.

Inside, it was only even more so, with yellow flowers also scattered here and there on a few surfaces. In inside was much warmer, and he was given the scent of baked goods flooding to him. Any child or person would be happy living here, that was a given.

As soon as they walked through the door, Toriel was instantly rushed by her children, all talking at once happily, with wide grins and laughter. It took a few moments, but Sans was finally spotted by Chara, who squinted their eyes at him as they said, "What's funny man doing here?"

"He was lonely, so I invited him over," Toriel explained. Frisk smiled even wider, rushing to Sans and basically tackling him as they threw their arms around him tightly. "Hey there, kiddo," he said with a smile of his own underneath his mask, and Frisk hopped happily on their toes.

He overheard Toriel ask were Alex was, and Chara responded with saying she was in the kitchen. He felt his stomach twist inside of him, of not knowing what to say if she were to see him. Could he escape unnoticed and not have to deal with this confrontation? Well, it'd be a little hard, since Frisk was still clinging to him tightly and looking so happy. They were really cute...

Toriel left to the kitchen, calling out the other females name, and he heard her call back in response. Was there any way to get out of this? He sighed heavily and wished Papyrus was with him. It would have made things a lot less awkward, and Sans wouldn't feel so uneasy. He still couldn't remember what he said to her!

Frisk began pulling him along, and he really didn't want to put in the unnecessary effort to resist. He was already stressing out so much about what he would say to Alex. The kid had dragged him into the kitchen, much to his dismay, and saw Alex and Toriel with their backs to them. On the counter was a tray of cookies, and Toriel laughed happily at something Alex had just told her. It was a calming atmosphere, and he'd feel calmer if he wasn't worrying so much.

"Sorry, the kids begged me to make them," Alex said to Toriel, pointing to the cookies with her thumb.

"Oh, it's no big deal!" The woman said with a large, warm grin. "In fact, these look absolutely wonderful! Please, stay around and have some!"

"I will, thanks."

Alex turned, and she froze when her eyes landed on Sans, the smile she previously wore disappearing. Toriel turned to see what she was looking at, and smiled at Frisk. "Thank you, my child, for showing our new guest around," she said, and the child nodded happily. "You're welcomed to have some as well once they cool down," Toriel said, gesturing to the cookies.

"Oh, ah, thanks, Tori," he said, averting his eyes from looking at Alex. He didn't want to see that expression any more than he had to. Toriel said something to Frisk, and they rushed over to her as the two left the kitchen, leaving Sans and Alex alone in the warm, sweet smelling room.

For once, the silence that filled the space wasn't a comfortable one. It was awkward, and honestly made Sans want to throw himself out the nearest window to escape having to talk to her. Luckily, he didn't have to start the conversation.

"So, how've you been?" She asked, as she leaned against the counter and wrapped her arms around herself, refusing to looking at him now, but not out of anger. Perhaps she also felt the awkwardness that hung in the air.

Sans shrugged. "Pretty same, I guess. Other than getting sick more."

Alex seemed to have winced a little at hearing this in concern, but quickly went past it. "Yeah, I heard from Papyrus. Shouldn't you be home, then?"

"Maybe, but I kinda got bored. I don't really like the silence that house creates."

She said nothing in return. This conversation would go no where if he didn't do something. Clearly he had done something to upset her, and being silent like he normally was wouldn't help. He wanted to help since this seemed like the life they were stuck with. There'd be no more of those RESETs, this was how their life would be for now on, and he wanted to do what he could to make it the best and keep the relationships he had in the past. For once, he wanted to put effort into something.

"What.. did I do to upset you?"

This got her attention, as she finally looked up at him, and knew by the expression he wore that he was serious. "You don't remember?"

"I was pretty sick. I don't remember waking up or seeing you at the house, I only knew this because Pap told me."

She went silent for a moment, before giving off a sigh. "No, it's fine. You're right, you were sick... It was probably nothing."

"It's not nothing if it's causing you to ignore me. I want to know how I can make it up to you, whatever I did."

"... It was more of how you knew something, rather than what you did."

"So, what'd I know?"

"That I can't really feel emotions."

So, that was the part that slipped out. She was aware that she couldn't feel anything. Well, that was a step in some unknown direction, for better or worse he couldn't tell. At this moment, he could be honest and tell her how he knew, or he could lie and avoid it for now. But how would she react to either? Telling her that she was soulless, how Asriel might have her soul, how does one take information like that without thinking you're completely crazy? At this point in time, he was beginning to think that he really was crazy. He could also come up with a lie, but with how he had just made her upset he didn't want to any more.

With a heavy sigh, he finally spoke. "Listen... I can't tell you, at least not right now. There's a lot more that has to be known before I can tell you."

"I don't think you understand," he voice took a sharp turn that made him jump a little. "I want to know why I'm like this. Why I'm so... messed up, not normal. I don't care how crazy it is, I want to know, because I'm about ready to give everything up. I can't stand feeling like this. So tell me."

Now he had to come up with some way to explain to her. "In the most direct way... You're soulless."

"Are you insulting me?"

"No, you're literally soulless. A soul is what helps humans feel emotions and makes them what they are, human. You're lacking emotions because you're lacking a soul."

"... Why?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. I just can't figure out a way to help you."

"You said that, too."

A silence filled the room, and it went back to it's comfortable state.


	14. Chapter 14

Thankfully, Sans had made things right between him and Alex, and once more she began texting him almost as much as she did with Papyrus. Most of the time, he wouldn't answer, but she would just ramble on and on, so there wasn't much a reason for him to answer back. She understood his lack of texting effort, which was a good thing.

After having told her that she was soulless and explaining a bit to her, she seemed to have taken the information well, and even seemed a little relieved that she now had found the answer to one of her life questions. Of course, there was still the question of if she was aware of their previous life, with Sans and Papyrus as monsters, and they all living Underground, or if she possibly knew why they were all now human, but that could come at a later time. If they did have this one last life to live, then there wasn't much of a rush, right? They could, for once, take things slowly, with one step at a time.

This also threw Sans off a little, because now that he knew this information, he now had the energy to put some more effort into things, unlike when he was a monster and everything would just get RESET. Here, that wouldn't happen. Every morning he woke up, it was a new day, and every night was new. There was no repeating. He didn't have to feel the absolute dread he once felt every morning waking up and wondering how everything would go this time. Of course, this now gave him some determination to figure out how to help Alex out, since the way she was living was not a good nor pleasant way to live.

So, that's when Gaster started bringing Sans to his lab every now and again, and the two worked together to try to come up with solutions. There was the idea of transferring the borrowed soul from Asriel and giving it back to Alex, but that would be an absolute last resort, because then the child would live a life emotionless, and the process was deemed too risky to be something as a first resort. So, that's when they came up with an artificial soul, but how does one create a soul? It was a process that seemed to be impossible, but it was an idea no less, and could work once they figured everything out on creating the soul. Another one was to share a soul, basically cutting one in half from a person with an already existing soul and giving a half to Alex, but who would do something like that? And, even though the process wasn't as risky as the one where they took back the soul from Asriel, it was still a risky procedure. They'd either have to take the half from Asriel, to give her her original soul, or take it from another, as Sans had offered up his own but Gaster quickly shot that idea down, telling him it was far too dangerous of a procedure for Sans, and he may not live through it with his weakness. Though, it was still taken into account, as they needed everything they could.

There was so much at stake, and that's what he told Alex one night while texting her. It was about midnight, but the two were wide awake, so they had nothing better to do.

"I don't care," she had texted, "I'll take whatever risk, as long as no one else gets hurt."

Clearly she really didn't understand just what could happen, but it was also clear that she was desperate, she wanted to have a soul badly just so she could feel normal. Sans sighed heavily after reading the text. He didn't want her to get hurt, or if worse came to worse, she would die. There were no more RESETs here, so she's gone once that happens forever. Though, he couldn't remember if she ever died in the Underground. As far as he knew, she never had then either.

Just as he was about to answer back, he heard a knock at his door. It was way late in the night for anyone to be awake, so the knock caused him to freeze a moment in confusion, before giving an okay to come in. The door opened, and Papyrus walked into the room, closing the door behind him.

"What's up, Pap?" Sans asked, a bit confused as to why Papyrus would even be awake this late at night. Normally, he was the first to bed and the first to rise, it was rare to ever see Papyrus awake at this hour, unless something was wrong, like he had a nightmare, but thankfully those were rare.

"I couldn't go back to sleep," he said as he walked in, frowning at the mess that was on the floor. "Don't you know how to clean up after yourself, Sans?"

"Yeah, but I've been a little preoccupied to do so," be said with a bit of a grin on his face. Sometimes it was amusing when his brother would yell at him over something, just because his reactions and facial expressions were outrageous. Though, he could tell this was no time for that, as Papyrus sat on his bed. The brothers, no matter where or what timeline, they were always able to read each other like a book, whether for better or worse, so Sans could tell this was something more serious.

Papyrus didn't say anything for a moment or two, before finally signing. "What have you and dad been doing? You've been leaving with him almost everyday now."

Of course he'd notice something like that. Sans sighed heavily. "Nothing to worry about, Pap."

"You don't need to lie to me, Sans." His voice came out much more harsher than normal, which forced Sans to look at him, and saw the Papyrus was serious, and seemed concerned. "You and dad don't tell me anything if it's something serious or important. I understand that you're trying to protect me in some way, but I'm worried, and I want to know. What's it about? Is it something serious? Are you all right?"

In the Underground, Sans always lied to Papyrus in order to keep him safe, but here, he shouldn't do that anymore. Sans realized it could ruin their relationship, at least in the Underground, there were always RESETs, so he never had to worry about that kind of thing.

Sans sighed heavily. "It'd be a bit too complicated to explain."

"I'm not stupid."

"Never thought you were-"

"I remember the Underground, Sans."

This caused Sans to jump in surprise. He stared at his brother long and hard, trying to figure out if that was the truth, or if he was just lying. But Papyrus was never a liar.

"How?" Sans finally asked, sitting up more in attention.

"For a while now," Papyrus said with a small, sad smile. "I thought it was just my overactive imagination, but after a while I realized it had been real somehow. I know at the time, I didn't know about RESETs, but after having these dreams for a while, I figured it out on my own."

Sans rubbed his face with one hand, pinching the bridge of his nose as well. "I... hoped you never found out."

"More things make sense now that I know. So please, tell me what you and dad have been doing. Does it relate to the Underground at all?"

"Well.. A little. We're trying to figure out what happened that lead to us being here, and we think we know how to step closer to that."

"How?"

"Remember human souls, and monster souls?"

"Yes."

"We need those souls to live, as either humans or monsters. Without one, you're just a walking, empty husk. Do you remember Alex being in the Underground?"

"Of course!"

"Heh, that's good. Well, dadster and I are working on a way to create or split a soul."

"But... why?"

"Might as well just tell it straight... Alex has no soul."

"What? But how? Why?"

"Dunno, that's what we're also trying to figure out."

Papyrus' shoulders slumped and he looked at the floor as he processed the information given to him. Sans hoped he put it simple enough, and hoped that his brother wouldn't carry this weight with him as if it were his own, he didn't deserve that sort of thing. Papyrus was still in school as well, so he had that to deal with, he didn't need to deal with the affairs of a life that is only a dream and a distant memory now. It never existed.

... That was a scary thought.

"I'm actually really glad we're here though," Papyrus finally said. He now wore a smile on his face, and was still looking at the ground, but didn't look so bothered. "Now, nothing bad can happen. Well, they still can, but at least the likeliness of me losing my head are less!"

"Pap, I don't think that's something to joke about."

"Why not? It wasn't real anymore. And now we can live like we wanted to. Are you happy though?"

"What?"

"With how things are now. Does it make you happy?"

That was something Sans didn't put much thought into. He was relieved there would be no more RESETs, at least as far as he knew, and they were no longer stuck in the Underground. Papyrus was still by his side, and so was everyone else, and even though he now had really terrible health, it wasn't all that bad at least. There'd be no more mass murder of everyone he loved and cared for, or at least the likelihood of it happening were far less than when they were Underground, and there was no war between monsters and humans.

Finally, Sans let out a long sigh after a few moments of thinking. Giving a small smile, he said, "Yeah, I'm pretty happy with how this turned out."

This made Papyrus smile even wider, and Sans felt like he was on top of the world. His brother was the coolest, and seeing him smile always made him feel like he could do anything. Well, if the effort was minimum at least.

"The only things bothering me is how we got to this point, and why," Sans continued.

"We have a lot of time to figure that out."

"Yeah, you're right..."

Papyrus was always right, he always knew what to say. However, Sans wanted to know all the answers as quickly as possible. He didn't know why, maybe because he just really didn't like not knowing everything. He always found a sense of security when he had all the questions answered, when everything was all figured out and knew everything would be fine, and safe, and had plans for when everything went wrong. Here, he barely had any answers, the questions outweighed them, and it made him restless and uneasy.

Finally, Papyrus said his goodnight to Sans as he stood up and left the room, also telling his brother not to stay up too late as it's bad for his overall health. Same thing Sans heard every time he was caught awake at the late hours of the night. After he was sure that Papyrus was back in his room, Sans took out his cell phone from his pocket, and read the last message she had sent.

 _"I'll take whatever risk, as long as no one else got hurt."_

For someone lacking a soul, which included emotions and empathy, she sure cared a lot about others. Strange. Did humans act differently soulless than monsters had? He couldn't think of meeting any soulless humans when he was 'Sans the skeleton', but the only human he remembered meeting outside of Alex had been Frisk. The fact that he had never met a soulless human before still stood.

Sans felt his eyes grow heavy, and he gave out a yawn. As he prepared for bed, he texted her, asking if she was still awake, getting a response in no time. He fell asleep while texting her, waiting for a reply...

* * *

"O-oh god, Sans... What.. What're we going to d-do?"

Her voice cracked as she let out a sob, covering her mouth as she did so. Tears ran down her face, curling into herself.

They were in Hotland, in Alphys' lab. On the big monitor was the view of the other fallen human, who was currently in a fight with a monster, and suddenly it turned to dust, and the child continued on without a glance.

"Um... I'm s-sure Undyne will.. will stop th-them," said the yellow lizard, who looked back and forth between the crying female and the screen. It was obvious she was nervous, everyone was. Many monsters were trying to evacuate, except for those left of the Royal Guard, and whoever stands a chance to fight.

So far, the child was relentless, and showed no mercy to any monster that crossed their path. At this point, Alex figured it was safe to assume that even Toriel was now part of the dead, turned to dust by the hands of this child.

Alex and Alphys watched the screen, uncomfortable and fearful. Every time a monster was reduced to dust, Alex let out a choked sob, and Alphys let out a gasp in distress.

Sans stood away from them, not watching the screen. In his boney hands was the beloved scarf that belonged to his brother, the best brother anyone could ever ask for, the best monster he ever knew, the kindest and most optimistic in the Underground. Of course, this has happened before, but never once did the pain not hurt him. Not once did he not feel hatred towards this child for choosing this, instead of choosing a better path. They choose LOVE, instead of love. They made their choice.

He looked at the screen, his eye sockets gone off their white pupils. They made their choice, and now there was to be consistences for their sins.

"Alphie, darling, you and the others should evacuate with the others," came a robotic voice. A boxed robot appeared beside the lizard, and she shook her head. "No, I-I'll stay... I have to m-make sure Undyne makes it..."

The robot placed a hand on her. Alex looked over at Sans, before standing up and walking over to him. Hey arms hugged herself around the waist tightly. "We.. We should leave..." She said, trying to gain courage in her voice.

He didn't respond. He just stood there, watching the human child on the screen kill yet another monster. "Sans, please," she choked out, pulling on the sleeve of his blue sweater to get his attention. Finally, he slowly turned to her, and then shook his head. Closing his eyes, he said, "You'd better evacuate with the others, kid. Before they get here."

"Not without you, I can't... I can't lose you as well.. So, please. Please.."

He didn't answer to her pleas. Silence filled the lab, until Alphys final spoke up. "Well, th-this may seem like... Like a bad idea, b-but... Alex, you're human.. We could... Use you?"

"Use me?"

"Alphys, leave her out of this," Sans basically snapped, and Alphys jumped back from fright. "No, I want to help," Alex said, looking back and forth between the two.

"We could... Use your soul... To kill them. Monsters d-don't stand a chance, but... With your soul, since you're human, um, we might be... able t-to stop them..."

It was a weak plan, but it still was one that may work. However, Sans knew there'd be no way to stop the kid, they'd just keep RESETTING every time they die, until they finished this round and come again. He knew how it worked.

"A-Although human, you do h-have magic capabilities in your soul. O-Only explanation is, um... You were born from a magician? Like.. Like ones that put up the barrier, so.. You may have a chance?"

There was nothing Sans could say, it wasn't his call. He'd already seen what Alex could do as well from the first time they met, but she didn't seem to remember. For better or for worse. This was her call if she wanted to go through with it, and of course, she did. Alex nodded determinedly.

Sans sighed, as he put the orange scarf around his neck. "Alright.. We should get in some training then, before the kid comes.. Come on."

"Please, stay safe, Alphys."

"O-Oh, I'll be... I'll be fine. Just, be careful."

Alex took Sans' boney hand in hers, and they flashed out of the lab, leaving Alphys and Mettaton behind to watch the human, and wait for them to arrive at Hotland...


	15. Chapter 15

"It's a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming. On days like these... All humans should just burn in hell."

Frisk quickly avoided the knife aimed for them before it had a chance to hit. Alex quickly situated herself. On her person, she wore the blue sweater, and orange scarf. Both were lightly coated with splotches of dust from their previous owners. She had hid the knife until now. The child had managed to defeat Sans, after a long, tiring battle with a knife. Alex had shouted out in grief, and before Frisk could continue on their way, a barrier suddenly appeared, blocking the exit from the Judgement Hall.

"Wait," she had said, her voice cracking, "we aren't done here.. No. Not yet."

She had stood up, taking off the black sweater she wore, before dawning the items. Slowly, she had turned to face the child, and there were tears running down her face.

"You're not done yet. You judgement continues with me. I wasn't here just for show. If your real intent is to head to the surface and destroy all of humanity, well... This is a test to see if you can go through with it. Humans always were so selfish. So, before you can continue on, I'll be your final test."

That was when she drew out her knife, and the fight began.

The only monster that was left was Asgore, as he was just beyond the door from the hall. The barrier remained up, and the child was unable to pass unless they were to kill her.

And that's exactly what they had done.

It was difficult and took some time, as even though Alex couldn't bend time like Sans, she certainly used the barriers to her advantage of not getting hit, until Frisk caught them off guard, and stabbed her in the chest. Red quickly stained the clothing, and she dropped her knife as it let out an audible sound as it hit the tiled floor.

"H-Humans... Really are the worst..."

Those were her last words, as the knife was forced out of her, and she fell to the ground. A pool instantly formed underneath, and she moved no more. The barrier disappeared, and without a second glance, the child continued on to the monster king...

* * *

When Sans woke up, it was storming outside. The seasons were changing, and in came the rain the flooded the streets and the sidewalk, hitting loudly against the house and the glass windows. A crash of lightning made a loud roar in its wake. Occasionally, storms like this would pop up, but mostly it was just the rain that would show its face. The sky was a deep grey, causing the rest of the world to become saturated in colour.

He sat up, stretched, and got changed. For once, he had slept pretty well. In fact, he didn't even dream of the Underground. It was a little saddening, but it was better than a sudden nightmare appearing and ruining his day before he even woke up.

As get headed down stairs, he realized it was sometime in the afternoon, maybe early evening. He had woken up pretty late, but that was all right with him. He probably would've used this time to sleep anyways. The rain always brought out the laziness in people, so it was no surprise he saw Papyrus sitting on the couch, instead of running around the town somewhere with Undyne.

At hearing noise, his brother had turned around to face Sans, and he smiled widely. "Good morning, brother! Err, well, good evening actually, but for you it's morning!"

"Heh, yeah. Morning. What ya watching, Paps?"

"Cooking show!" Papyrus said enthusiastically, before frowning. "Though, why had they not asked me, the great Papyrus, to be on this show? I could show the world how to make the best spaghetti they've ever tasted!"

"I'm sure you would, bro. Why don't we give them a call?"

"I already did, they thought I was some bird and figured it was a prank!"

Sans snickered a little, and Papyrus have him a squinted look. "How is that funny?!"

Sans could see how they thought that. Papyrus' voice was almost always raised in a shout, much like a talking bird's voice would be. For some reason, he now hand an image in his head of Papyrus as a bird, shouting loudly, and it caused him to snort and laugh harder. The bird still had Papyrus' face and head.

"Why're you laughing!? I demand to know the joke!"

"Nah bro," Sans said, gasping for air in between words, "I can't even wing it."

"OH MY GOD!"

Papyrus threw his arms up, showing a face of complete disgust, as Sans held his side's from laughing so hard. At this point, there were even tears in his eyes. His brother's reaction to his puns always made him laugh, as Papyrus had the best facial expressions.

"That was.. That was great," Sans said as he finally managed to calm down, wiping at his eyes as a few giggles let out here and there. "You're great, bro."

"I am the great Papyrus, I just don't get why you were laughing so hard!"

"Ah, it's nothing, Pap, you're just funny."

"I hadn't said anything funny!"

As Papyrus shouted that, a knock came from the door, getting both of the brothers attention. Normally, if it was Undyne or Alphys, they would have just walked right on in. They hadn't heard the familiar engine of the car, so they knew it wasn't Gaster. They gave each other a look, before Sans shrugged, getting up to offer to get the door. Though, it was strange. Who would be walking around in this sort of weather? It was far too terrible outside to be doing much of anything.

Sans grabbed the door knob, and opened the door. Drenched to the bone and dripping wet, Alex stood there with a blank expression on her face.

"Wha- Alex, what're you doing here?" Sans said in surprise, which now at this point had caught Papyrus' attention.

"You're soaked! I'll go fetch a towel!" Papyrus shouted as he hurried off, having only taken one look at the female. Sans grabbed onto her arm and quickly pulled her into the house. She wasn't protected much, wearing shoes, jeans and a hoodie, that sort of thing wouldn't keep anyone dry in this sort of weather, and he doubted even going out there in full armor would keep someone from getting wet.

She said nothing, she did nothing. She just stood there with a blank expression on her face, dripping rain water onto the floor below her. The most she did was shiver uncontrollably, and just by her appearing here without a warning gave Sans the idea that something was wrong, something had happened, and she couldn't seek out Toriel so instead came here. He wondered what had happened.

Papyrus quickly hurried back, and started telling the female what to do and helping her out. She finally moved, removing her shoes like told so, but each movement was slow and took her time doing. Sans knew that Papyrus would help, he was caring in that way. With the towel wrapped around her, Papyrus quickly lead her upstairs, trying to keep from as much water getting on the ground as possible. Sans stood there for a moment, having watched them go up the stairs, until he sighed, grabbing a towel himself and cleaning up the water off the floor. He knew Gaster wouldn't really appreciate coming home and finding the floor to be completely soaked, though by the time he came home it would probably be dried by then.

It bothered him how she just suddenly appeared without warning. Even though most of their guests barged in, she hadn't done so before. And that look on her face, how she just looked so empty... That was a little new, he'd never seen her wear such an expression before.

He waited a few minutes before making his way upstairs. He saw that Papyrus' door was still shut, so he went to his room. Rummaging through his things, he found a clean sweater for her to wear. Hopefully, wearing one of his sweaters would cheer her up a little. They were big and rather cozy and warm.

As he was walking back to the closed door, it finally opened up. "I'll make sure your clothes get dried up quick!" He heard Papyrus say before he saw him. His brother quickly went down the stairs, having only looked at Sans for a brief moment. In his arms he had the drenched clothing, as well as the towel.

Sans looked into the bedroom, and saw Alex sitting on the bed, still with the blank stare at the ground. Papyrus had given her a baggy shirt to wear and it looked like a pair of pajama pants, which also seemed too big for her. He sighed a little, walking into the room, stopping right in front of her and held out the sweater. Slowly, she looked up at him, that blank gaze falling upon him now.

"Here," he said once she looked at him, "since you're still probably cold."

Slowly, she looked down at the sweater, and it had been a few moments before she finally took it, and put it on.

"I won't make you talk about it," he said after a few moments of silence in between them, "but if you want to, you can tell Paps and I about what happened. If not, then just don't, but I godda warn you... His hugs are compelling."

She didn't say anything, which also was a bad sign. He sighed, not figuring out what he could do. Sans turned as he heard Papyrus coming back up the stairs, and entered the room. "Sans, you gave her one of your disgusting sweaters? That can't be comfortable!"

He shrugged. "Hey, it's better to give it up willingly rather than have her search my room for it."

"Why would she want to wear something like that!"

"These are pretty comfortable, bro. Why do you think I have so many?"

"Because when you only had one you smelled worse because you never washed it! We had to get you more!"

"Exactly my point..."

They stopped arguing, as Sans has looked over at Alex, and his brothers gaze followed his. The female sat there on the edge of the bed, dozing off. Papyrus gently woke her up and urged her to sleep in his bed, as Sans left the room. Papyrus knew how to take care of others better than him. He couldn't even take care of himself properly, so Sans knew she was in good hands.

He still wondered what had happened to cause her to make her way half way through town to come to them. She could have much easier gone to see Toriel, would have gotten less soaked in the rain. She may even get a cold now because of how terrible it was outside, and how unprepared she had dressed for that sort of weather. She could have called or texted them easily.

Finally, Papyrus came back downstairs, looking just as worried as Sans felt. "All good?" Sans asked.

Papyrus nodded. "She's asleep now, must've been worn out from the trip. I wonder what possessed her to do such a thing."

"Must've been serious."

His brother let out a long, heavy sigh, before finally saying, "Do you think we can help?"

"Of course, Pap, you're great at helping others, just like everything else."

He gave a small smile at hearing this, and Sans was glad he could help him to feel a bit better. Now all there was to do was wait for the female to wake up, and if she wanted to talk, they'd be there to listen and try to help. If not, well, at least there was a less likely of a chance of her getting sick now, thanks to Papyrus' quick thinking.

The brothers continued on their day, but making sure to be quiet as to not wake up the female sleeping upstairs. Papyrus made sure her clothes got washed, dried, and folded them afterwards. His brother ended up drifting off on the couch, and with a sigh and a smile, Sans covered him with a blanket. They'd end up having a late dinner, how late depending on how long Papyrus decided to sleep. It was all right, he had done a lot, and was probably tired from worrying all day.

Sans decided to head upstairs, to quickly check on Alex and see if she was still asleep. Quietly, he opened the door to look into the room. She still lay on the bed, and remembering about her possibly getting sick, he walked into the room as quietly as he could. Her face looked red, which caused him to frown heavily, though it wouldn't have been seen for the mask that covered his mouth. With the back of his hand, he felt her forehead, which was burning a little, but it didn't seem like something that could be worrisome later on. He would know, he was the King of illnesses.

Her eyes opened, which caused Sans to jump back, quickly putting his hand back in his pocket. "Hey there," he said. "How ya feeling?"

She just looked at him for a moment, before nodding. "Fine," she answered in a quiet voice.

"That's good. Papyrus is asleep, so dinner may be a little late."

She didn't respond to this. He didn't mind as silence took over, but he couldn't help but notice she seemed to be debating about something inside her head. At last, her mouth opened, as her voice came out with a slight tremor.

"I.. Had a terrible dream last night... That's why I came over.."

"Yeah? What about?"

"You, and Papyrus, and Frisk... You.. You two were skeletons. Frisk and I, we were still humans, but it was in some weird place, and... Frisk killed you both, you turned to dust right in front of me. I challenged Frisk on my own, and I... I was stabbed, and killed.."

The more she spoke, the softer her voice got. Sans felt his heart almost stop. So, now she was having dreams about the Underground too, and he hadn't known she had tried fighting Frisk at least once, which eventually lead to her death.

There was a moment of silence between the two, before Sans let out a light chuckle. "Hey," he said, "chin up. It was just a dream."

"But... It felt real-"

"Sometimes dreams do that. But hey, do I look like a skeleton?"

"No..."

"I don't think I'm dead either. Everything is fine, Alex. There's no reason to cry."


End file.
